
Class _BXiQ_l 
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Gopight^°_. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




THE AUTHOR. 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL: 

OR, 

WHERE THE MASTER TROD, 



BY 

U. HOENSHEL, D. D„ 

it 

Author of "My Three Days in Gilead" and "By The 
Overflowing Nile." 



"For even hereunto were ye called : be- 
cause Christ also suffered for us, leaving us 
an example, that ye should follow His steps." 

I Peter 2:21. 




NEW YORK: 
EVERY WHERE PUBLISHING 00. 



)r\W 



Copyright 1912, 

BY 

Elmer U. Hoenshel, 
Dayton, Virginia. 



©CI.A316658 
**3 f 






!> 



<3 



This story of the way of the "Man of 
Sorrows", who in suffering- bought immortal 
life for all, is tenderly and reverently dedi- 
cated to the memory of her who went into 
the Valley of the Shadow that I might have a 
natural life, — 

TO MY MOTHER;— 



And to her who in self-sacrifice was willing 
to "tarry by the stuff" that I might go forth 
to study the land that is called holy, and to 
search for its path of crimson, — 
TO MY WIFE. 

The Author. 



BOCKS BY ELMER U. HOENSHEL. 



'MY THREE DAYS IN GILEAD". Illustrated. 

Cloth — 50 cents. Paper — 30 cents. 



"BY THE OVERFLOWING NILE". Illustrated. 

Cloth — 75 cents. Paper — 50 cents. 



"THE CRIMSON TRAIL". Illustrated. 

Cloth— SI. 00. 



FOREWORD. 

In this book I break my "alabaster box" at the feet of 
the Man of Sorrows. Concerning my story I wish to say, 

1. That in the portrayal of scenes incident to His life 
I have followed what seems to me to be the chro- 
nological order of events. 

2. That since the Bible narrative of the Wonderful 
One is so very brief I have permitted Fancy to play 
her part, yet being very careful to see that my 
story harmonizes with the geography and environ- 
ment of the place and time as I know it from obser- 
vation and history; and in that play of Fancy I 
have not knowingly permitted the slightest contra- 
diction of Scriptural statement or thought. 

3. That in all quotations from the New Testament I 
have followed the American Revised Version. 

4. That under "The Night Vision", preceding each 
chapter, I have placed a leading prophecy concern- 
ing the climactic thought of the chapter before 
which it stands; and that under "The Day Star" is 
a quotation of historic revelation concerning that 
same thought. 

5. That while I have so written that the careful 
reader will readily understand my creed, I have 
avoided all dogmatic discussion, — seeking only to 
tell my story in such manner as to be understood. 

The theme was approached with hesitancy, fear, and 
reverence; the story was written with a tender love and, 
at times, a trembling emotion not unattended by tears; 
it is finished and sent forth with the wish that all who 



FOREWORD. 

read may see my Hero as I have felt at times that I saw 
Him, and that, hearing His gentle call, they, like the 
earliest disciples, may be willing to forsake all to be 
with Him. 
Dayton, Virginia, July 28, 1911. 






INTRODUCTION. 



Encouraged by the voice of praise of reputable critics 
concerning my former books and the popular reception 
accorded them, I find myself once more in traveler's 
garb. And I am willing again to endure hardship and 
privation if only I may be able, as a faithful, guide, to 
show you what I see, and 'help you to feel a few of the 
rich experiences that come to me as we search among 
the ruins of twentieth-century Palestine for the crimson 
marks along the path made by Him who, by his life and 
by his death, made the land holy. 

In our day, after the passing of nineteen hundred 
years', it would be interesting indeed if one were able 
to follow a surely identified trail made by Him — see real 
foot-prints, nis very own. But in a little while after He 
was "received up into glory", the wind and the rain, and 
profane hands and feet, had completely obliterated the 
material marks of his presence here, as they quickly 
do of all mankind. 

But Palestine is to-day, in contour and orography, 
much the same as it was in the days of the Incarnation. 
So, as we wander through its valleys, along its streams, 
and climb its hills in search of memorials! of the God- 
man, it will be our privilege to pass where prophets 
prophesied concerning Him; to look where priests offered 
sacrifices typical of Him; and to stand where angels 
stood and looked upon Him in wonder and amazement 
or gave aid in his times of crisis. And sometimes we 



INTRODUCTION. 

shall stand where He stood, and, in a sense, we can push 
aside the accumulated rubbish of the centuries and surely 
find the foot-prints of Him without whose life, in its 
preparation and fulfillment, Palestine would be an empty 
name — a land of desolation, — a country to be shunned 
rather than visited. 

Having visited His land, and having passed over much 
of His pilgrim-way from Bethlehem to Bethany, I feel 
impressed to put in this form of permanency the story 
of what I saw and experienced at some of the places on 
this trail where men and angels watched. While every 
step of the way is holy ground, we shall tarry specially 
at only a few places; and these are chosen because of 
the significant events that occurred in them. 

Had His pilgrimage never been made then the world 
had not been saved. We read much of great marches 
in the world's history, — marches of thousands of men in 
military discipline and with splendid and gorgeous dis- 
play; then follows a recital concerning the dreadful con- 
flict — the ground trembling with the charging of cavalry 
and the incessant booming of artillery. Then we look 
upon awful carnage, and mingling with the shouts of vic- 
tory are heard the shrieks and curses of the wounded 
and dying. An army has been overthrown, but no man 
has been conquered — his will is just what it was before 
the march and the battle. 

But here is a single individual who steps forth in san- 
dals and the common garb of earth's poor. — he threads 
a few by-ways and enters a few high places in the little 
land of Palestine, and in a few short years conquers the 
world. 

How I have wished that I might be able to tell with 
brush or chisel, or with skilful touch on string or key, or 
with cultivated voice in song, some phase of the wonder- 
ful life that saves, as some have done! How I have felt 



INTRODUCTION. 

that I would like to place branches of palm and cast my 
garment an the rough path of the Man of Sorrows that 
his feet be not bruised in passing through my land, 
and if bruised, how I would like to be the possessor of 
costly oil that I might be able to refresh and soothe the 
weary Pilgrim! Ah, do I forget? If from the wayside 
I am able to pluck but a single flower to throw where He 
walks, it will help; to protect his feet; and if I can find 
no oil or bubbling fountain, but can secure a single tear, 
distilled in suffering sympathy for His sake, it will help 
to soothe the bruises. 

To know that I nave been able to do this will be my 
highest joy and my supreme reward for sending forth 
this book to the public. 



PALESTINE 1 

* ^ « •/ 



»■» ■ ■« The /^VTHOR'S touv 
throu s hou* THE. LA N o . 
©-Kep^esen+s pUces es- X 
Pecia-tty written Aboui- 

in this bo ok. 








PAGE 


Chapter I. 


The Pilgrim Born 
(At Bethlehem.) 


1 


Chapter II. 


Tarrying at the Home-Hearth 
(At Nazareth.) 


13 


Chapter III. 


The Dove and the Voice 
(At the River.) 


23 


Chapter IV. 


The Tempter and the Angels 
(In the Wilderness.) 


35 


Chapter V. 


The Forgotten Waterpot . 
(At the Well.) 


. 41 


Chapter VI. 


Stilling Storms 
(At the Lake.) 


51 


Chapter VII. 


The Voice in the Bright Cloud 
(On the Mountain.) 


61 


Chapter VIII 


. A Glory-crowned Delay 
(At Bethany.) 


. 71 


Chapter IX. 


The Gathering Tempest . 
(At Jerusalem.) 


. 81 


Chapter X. 


The Bitter Cup and the Angel 
(In Gethsemane.) 


, 93 



CONTENTS. 




. 


PAGE 


Chapter XI. The Pilgrim Slain . 


. 107 


(On Calvary.) 




Chapter XII. The Broken Seal 


125 


(At the Sepulcher.) 




Chapter XIII. "Received Up Into Glory " 


. 133 


(On Olivet.) 








THE NIGHT VISION. 

"But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little 
among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he 
come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel: whose 
goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 

— Micah 5:2. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David 
a Savior, who is Ghriat the Lord." — Luke 2:11. 




o A 






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TO 






THE PILGRIM BORN. 

(At Bethlehem.) 

CHAPTER I. 

IT was on a Saturday afternoon that my dragoman 
came to me on the streets of Jerusalem and 
said, "You may get ready at once for a trip to 
Bethlehem; the evening is quite favorable." 

I was glad to hear this from my guide. I had 
already spent several days in and about the Holy 
City — had been on Olivet a few times, in the Garden 
of Gefhsemane, in numerous tombs near the city, 
through the near-by valleys, in the Church of the 
Holy Sepulcher, by the Pools of Hezekiah and 
Bethesda, had walked outside the walls from Damas- 
cus Gate eastward and around to Jaffa Gate, and had 
tarried at the sacred places within the Haram where 
the Temple stood; and I had made excursions to 
Jericho, the Jordan, and the Dead Sea; to Hebron; 
and to Mizpah, Gibeon, and Beth-Horen. I had been 
reserving Bethlehem as the last special place to visit 
before leaving Palestine. Hence my gladness at the 
plan for the afternoon. 

But when he added, "And we shall ride donkeys 
this time", I was not so glad. I had been looking at 

1 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

donkeys for a few months of my trip, and it had 
never occurred to me that it would be in keeping 
with the fitness of things for me to sit astride of a 
donkey, — for, when I considered his diminutive size, 
and the length of my lower extremities, it seemed 
to me that if ever I should mount a donkey it would 
be much like riding and walking at the same time. 
So I mentioned my objections to my guide, and sug- 
gested that we make the trip in a carriage. 

To my suggestion he simply said, "We shall ride 
donkeys." And not wishing any altercation upon the 
subject, I said, "Wait for tne until I can hurry to my 
hotel and get my leggings." For I felt that with the 
close proximity of my feet to the ground and dust I 
should surely need them. 

When I returned two donkeys were there, and two 
boys also! I suppose that the donkeys belonged to 
the boys; but in the East when you hire a donkey 
you also get a boy; and it is the boy's duty to see 
that the donkey travels as nearly as possible to suit 
the rider's taste. To do this he runs along at the side 
of or behind the animal with a whip ; when the don- 
key walks the boy walks, and when the donkey runs 
the boy is at his heels or maybe at his side grinning 
with delight at the speed of his beast, and apparently 
never tiring half as much as the rider. He considers 
that if his donkey is first in a race with several other 
animals, it is his best recommendation for the next 
prospective tourist. 

On mounting, I found that the stirrups were from 

2 



THE PILGRIM BORN. 

four to six inches too short for me. I immediately 
dismounted and said to my dragoman, "If I must ride 
a donkey, you must get me a saddle that suits me 
better or I'll take this one off and ride bare-back." 
He looked at me a moment and then replied, "Sir, I 
don't think there is a saddle in Jerusalem with stir- 
rups long enough for you !" But he sent the boys to 
make search; and after some delay they returnee* 
with one that suited me better, at least. 

Then we mounted again ; the boys whipped up our 
donkeys, and away we went! My guide called out 
something in Arabic to the boys which I did not 
understand, except by noting its effect. It was, 
"Now, boys, go back; I know how to ride donkeys, 
and how to take care of them; I'll bring them back 
safe this evening!" Well, I am sure that he did 
know how to manage a donkey fairly well, — he rode 
right on chanting the strains of a Mohammedan song. 
But /, — before I had ridden three hundred yards, I 
learned two things about a donkey: first, he seems 
to have speed in proportion to his size — not very 
great; second, he seems to have obstinacy in propor- 
tion to the size of his ears — quite a good deal. 
When the boys went back, my donkey began to lag, 
and when urged forward would run right along the 
side of the road, where at places a stumble might 
bring serious results to me. If I turned him into the 
middle of the road, he wouldn't go at all. Our trouble 
finally attracted the attention of my dragoman who 
was already some distance ahead. To his query, 

3 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

"What is the matter back there?" I simply and truth- 
fully said, "I don't know." "Oh," said he, "I see; 
you don't know how to ride a donkey!" I agreed 
with him — did not resent his opinion of my donkey- 
man-ship. "How do you do it?" I asked. "Weil," 
said he, "in the first place, let your donkey go where 
he wants to go, and — ". "But," said I, interrupting 
him, "this animal wants to stay right out among the 
rocks at the edge of the road, and I am afraid he'll 
stumble and fall with me." "Listen to me," he 
replied, "a donkey never, or seldom, falls; just let 
him go where he wants to go, and you devote your 
attention to whipping, and you'll get along all right." 
And, having learned how, I did get along fairly well. 

But where are we riding? From Jerusalem to 
Bethlehem. The distance is six miles, and the direc- 
tion is almost due south. Just after leaving Jaffa 
Gate the way leads down and across the Valley of 
Hinnom, by the railroad station, and on past the 
Ophthalmic Hospital. At the hospital I saw lined 
up awaiting their turn for treatment nearly, or quite , 
a score of persons. Very many of the people of this 
land are afflicted with sore eyes. Many are blind, or 
partially so. 

Then we rode on across the Plain of Rephaim. 
And I remember now that almost every foot of our 
way is sacred ground. I remember that here on this 
plain where we are riding, David, the great warrior, 
as well as the sweet singer of Israel, was engaged at 
least three times in dreadful conflict with the Philis- 



THE PILGRIM BORN. 

tines. And at one time he was so hard pressed that 
thoughts of other days came stealing in upon him — 
*lays of comfort, quiet, and protection, in his child- 
hood. And then in his intense thirst, though a king, 
he thought of the sweet waters of the old home-well. 
And perhaps he was unconscious that this great sigh 
of desire escaped his lips: "Oh, that I had a drink 
of water from the well at Bethlehem's gate!" I do 
not know that he wanted any one to hear his cry of 
desire ; I do not know that he knew any one heard it. 
But three of his mighty men did hear; and out of 
supreme love for their king, they, at the risk of their 
lives, cut their way through the ranks of the enemy, 
hurried on to the well at Bethlehem, secured the 
water, and then fought their way back through the 
lines of the enemy to their king, who may not even 
have missed them from among his warriors. And 
then standing before David, happy in the success of 
their hazardous undertaking, something like this 
occurred: said they, "We heard you express a desire 
for a drink of water from Bethlehem's well, and we 
went and got it for you; here it is." Then said the 
great warrior, trembling with emotion, "Yes, I was 
thirsty, and I wanted the water. But, look ! In this 
water I see blood! In it I see the lives of three 
men! Ah, I cannot drink this water! It is the best 
thing that I have; I'll pour it out right here as a liba- 
tion to the Lord." 

As I ride on I think of desires of mine that it was 
possible to gratify because parents and friends had 

5 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

gone through lines of privation and danger to bring 
to me that which my life longed for. And what have 
I done with the offering? I fear that in too many 
instances there has scarcely been perceptible grati- 
tude manifested, and I fear, too, that the libation has 
frequently been lacking. But the incident has at 
least made me thoughtful. 

Passing on across the plain by way of the modern 
carriage road, it is not long until we have reached a 
conspicuous structure close to the road on the right 
side and not far from Bethlehem. It is the Tomb of 
Rachel. Then I remember that the sacred story tells 
me that Rachel died at Bethlehem under distressing 
conditions, while Jacob with his family and flocks was 
returning to his father's house after his long tarrying 
in Parian-Aram. This is a very sacred spot to the 
Jews; and the Tomb is opened (so I was told) but 
once a month. As this is not the time for it to be 
opened, I cannot get permission to enter. A few 
minutes more and we have reached our destination — 
the historic town of Bethlehem. 

Bethlehem to-day has a population of about eight 
thousand people. The town is built on a ridge, and 
certainly occupies the same site as that occupied by 
the Bethlehem of Jacob, Ruth, David, and Jesus. 
The modern town has but one street of note. 

Riding up to the gate, I dismount to look down into 
a deep well, said to be David's well, — the one to 
which reference has already been made. I pass 
along the chief street. It is interesting to note what 

6 




THE CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY— IX 
BETHLEHEM. 



THE PILGRIM BORN. 

the people are doing. I see many seated on floor of 
earth sawing, carving, rasping, and polishing mother- 
of-pearl shell, forming beautiful mementos to be 
sold to the thousands of people who annually visit 
this place from all parts of Christendom to bow for 
a moment where Hope dawned. Here they make 
crucifixes, images of the Saviour or of saints, and 
"stars of Bethlehem." And it seems that those who 
are not making the mementos are trying to sell 
them. These employments, together with shepherd- 
ing and a kind of tentative farming, seem to provide 
a living for the inhabitants of the town. 

Following this street we soon come to where it 
terminates in a large irregular space, or forum. 
Standing at the farther side is the Church of the 
Nativity. The portal is unusually plain. We pass 
within, and find ourselves in a large auditorium, in 
which are a number of large pillars of yellowish 
color, said to have once formed a part of the Jeru- 
salem Temple. Since the Temple was destroyed in 
A. D. 70, and since this church was built about A.D. 
325, it is 1 possible that the saying is true. 

Then we pass through another door to a smaller 
room, from which two flights of steps lead down to 
the Chapel of the Manger. One of these flights is 
used by the Greek Catholics and the other by the 
Roman Catholics. It must not be forgotten that here 
in Bethlehem was the beginning of Christianity, and 
that, however diverging may be the faiths of Prot- 
ectant Catholic. Armenian, or Arian, to this spot all 

7 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

come to ponder or to pray. And this great structure, 
I was told, belongs jointly to Greek Catholics, Roman 
Catholics, and Armenians. But such a feeling of 
hostility prevails, or has prevailed, between the Greek 
Catholics and the Roman Catholics, and this feeling 
became so manifest in words and even in blows when 
they came together here, that separate ways of 
descent to the Manger were made, and a Turkish 
soldier was placed on guard to keep the peace. 

Passing down the steps, I am greeted with the 
odor of incense, and the way is lighted with golden 
lamps. On reaching the Chapel of the Manger I 
find it lighted with fifteen lamps of gold. Then I 
note another armed soldier on guard here. Strange 
thing, that a representative of the religion of the 
sword must stand on guard to keep the peace right 
here where the Prince of Peace was born! 

Then I heard the voice of prayer and of sobbing, 
and on looking, I beheld a grotto-like opening in 
which were rich tapestries, golden lamps, and a little 
manger-like box or trough of stone, before which 
two or three pilgrims were engaged in devotions, 
manifesting subdued emotion. And then they kissed 
the box of stone. I did not feel that I wanted to kiss 
the cold, insensible rock, but I did want to get near 
to the place where the traditions, and I may say his- 
tory, of centuries tell me that all of Christianity was 
once cradled as a little child. 

It was a sweet privilege years ago to tread the 
ground where my mother played as a little child; 

8 



THE PILGRIM BORN. 

and, in another place, to look upon the house where 
my 'father was born almost a century ago. And I 
have felt strangely moved when standing in chambers 
of palaces in Europe where kings and queens, heirs 
to earthly thrones, first saw the light of day. But 
here, — what is it! I look, — but see not in the pres- 
ent! The chasm of the centuries has been crossed, 
and it is that wonderful night again when there was 
"no room at the inn." And the weary ones from 
Nazareth have been ushered in to where I stand. It 
is poor lodging; but yet there is consolation. Above 
the bleating of sheep and munching of cattle I seem 
to hear music far in the distance like the sweet mem- 
ory of a half-forgotten dream. Nearer it comes, and 
now it is like the voice of many nations in a song 
of increasing volume and joy; and a soft, celestial 
light begins to diffuse itself throughout the dark 
cave; and there sounds on my ear a noise like the 
caressing stroke of a wing; and then again the song, 
— it becomes a mighty chorus rising and swelling in 
richness until it fills all the earth and the sky, — still 
rising in sweet melody and swelling in grand har- 
mony it has reached its note of climax, — but for some 
reason it is not sung; there is a pause; it is a 
moment of supreme suspense; the highest note of 
their theme they cannot reach, they cannot sing. 
But, at last, it comes, — 'tis the cry of a child! Only 
an infant's wail! True; but had that voice never 
been heard the world would have had no hope; had 
that baby-note, the climax of the angels' song, never 

9 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

been sung, the song could never have been begun. 
And I seem to hear that voice as it falls for the first 
time on the glad mother's ears, and in fancy I see 
the child quickly grown to manhood, I see him pass 
quietly throughout his little homeland teaching and 
healing, and I long to follow the trail of blood made 
by his feet throughout his whole life of sacrifice. 
But listen! — I seem to hear a loud, despairing cry, 
"Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!", when just six miles 
north of where I stand that life begun here went out 
in agony on a cross of shame. It is a thrillingly 
sweet privilege to stand here. 

But my dragoman breaks my revery by asking me 
to come into another underground chamber called the 
cave of Jerome, for in it Saint Jerome is said to have 
lived for thirty years; and during that period he 
made a translation of the Bible known as the Vul- 
gate. This version is the one in use to-day by 
Roman Catholics. Jerome is also said to have been 
buried here. 

We now pass out of the Church of the Nativity, 
and again along the main street to the gateway, 
where let us halt a moment for a view of the Shep- 
herds' Field, — it lies just a little way down the hill 
to the eastward. Being fully in sympathy with the 
moods of nature, her voices, from the soughing 
breeze to the howling tempest, from the trickling of 
a tiny stream to the roaring and booming of an angry 
sea, have ever strongly appealed to me. Then I have 
heard sweet-voiced sineers tell in song the wondrous 

10 



THE PILGRIM BORN. 

story of undying love. And I have heard choruses 
of more than a thousand trained voices with more 
than two hundred orchestral instruments as in almost 
resistless volume of sweet music they bore me up to 
look in on Him of whom they sang. And I have sat 
in the great "minster transept" over the graves of 
the great of a nation — great in war and in peace; in 
art, story, and song; in statesmanship and reform. 
There were the dead lying in their graves beneath 
my feet, or thrust in niches in the wall about me. 
And when the great organ pealed forth its sacred 
tones and the trained choir of many voices sang, it 
seemed to me as though the shades of the departed 
came out to speak to me, — to warn me or to beckon 
me out and away. But here on Bethlehem's ridge, as 
I look down over that plain and remember that just 
out there, somewhere between that sod and that sky 
— just yonder — the angels sang the only song that 
angels ever came to earth to sing, so far as the rec- 
ord is given, I feel that I would give all the sweet 
music that these ears have ever heard if by so doing 
I might catch but one strain of that song of hope 
they sang for me when they said, "Glory to God in 
the highest, and on earth peace among men in whom 
He is well pleased!" 

And let us tarry still longer here to learn whither 
the Crimson Trail (crimson even from his birth, for 
it was a whole life of sacrifice, not simply a sacrifice 
of a few hours) tends, and where again in our nar- 
rative we shall take it up. 

11 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

While waiting we shall witness strange things — 
some beautiful, and some sad. First, the shepherds 
come in from the chill night-watch, that had been 
changed to night-rapture, to worship in the presence 
of the divine child that we have already found. 
Then at the end of forty days we shall see a happy 
couple bearing with pride their first-born to Jerusa- 
lem to comply with the requirements of Jewish law. 
We shall also see the treasure-bearing Wise Men 
from the East, guided by the star, come to this place 
to present gifts and to worship. And while we wait, 
the monster on the throne of Palestine, angered 
because the Wise Men did not return by Jerusalem, 
will send executioners to this place with orders to 
slay all male children that are found here or in the 
vicinity of Bethlehem "from two years old and 
under," that he may thus destroy the infant King. 
But though the order is obeyed, the Child is safe; 
for an angel had told Joseph to take the Child and 
hurry into Egypt. It was a night-flight, but it brought 
safety. We shall not follow, but await their return. 

When Herod was dead an angel told Joseph to 
return to Palestine with the Child. In obedience to 
this command they passed quietly through the land 
until in safety they reached their former home in 
Nazareth. To this point, far to the north of Beth- 
lehem, we shall now take our way, and there again 
we shall find Him whose trail of crimson we are, in 
this narrative, following. 

12 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, 
and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor 
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no 
beauty that we should desire him." — Isaiah 53:3. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; 
and he was subject unto them." — Luke 2:51. 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 

(At Nazareth.) 

CHAPTER II. 

NAZARETH is a city of about the same size as 
Bethlehem, or perhaps a little larger, and is 
not so compactly built as one finds other 
villages and cities of Palestine to be. Again, most 
towns of Palestine are situated on the tops of hills or 
ridges; Nazareth is surrounded by hills, fifteen of 
them, ranging from four hundred feet to five hun- 
dred feet in height. The only way by which a tour- 
ist can reach the town without crossing a hill is to 
enter from the south; and when he has gotten 
through the narrow pass he will see in beautiful 
panorama the white and clay-colored houses, and 
trees of olive, fig, pomegranate and cypress cover- 
ing the inner slopes of the hills with unusual attrac- 
tiveness for a town in this land. Located among 
the foot-hills of the mountains of Galilee, it has 
always been a secluded spot; and yet it is near 
the old, and modern, thoroughfares of commerce 
and travel. 

We shall approach Nazareth from the north; and 
before entering the town let us stop for a short while 

13 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

on the high ridge to the west, from which height we 
can look down into the streets of the place we seek. 
But we can see more. 

The view from this point is one of the best, if not 
the very best, in west Palestine, because of the many 
places of historic interest within the range of vision. 
To the north-east is Mount Hermon where He whom 
we are following was transfigured; south of Hermon 
is Bashan and Gilead famous in the exploits of 
Moses; a little to the south-east is Mount Tabor, at 
the foot of which Deborah and Barak marshaled their 
armies for successful battle against Sisera, and from 
whose heights Napoleon, over three thousand years 
later, reconnoitered and gave direction for a charge 
against the Turks that resulted in temporary victory 
for himself and his braves; in the same general 
direction is Little Hermon, on whose slopes lived the 
witch of Endor, and also where, centuries later, lived 
the woman of Nain, whose son was carried a corpse 
out of the gate of her village in funeral procession 
toward the tomb, — but a little later the corpse came 
to life, and the young man walked back happy with 
his mother to the home so recently made desolate by 
death, — on the grave-path Death had met Life, and 
at the touch of Him who was the Light of men, light 
came to the dull eyes of the dead and to the sad 
home and heart of his mother; and just south of 
Little Hermon is Gilboa where Saul and Jonathan 
were slain in battle; south of us, in the immediate 
foreground, is the plain of Esdraelon, the largest 

14 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 

plain in Palestine, and yet it is nowhere over twelve 
miles wide; eastward in the plain is Shunem where 
Elisha raised one from the dead; and following west- 
ward through the valley is the Kishon river whose 
outlet is just north of the sea-end of Mount Carmel, 
and in whose rolling flood many of Sisera's soldiers 
and horses lost their lives on that day of their dis- 
astrous defeat at the hands of Deborah and Barak; 
beyond the Kishon is Mount Carmel, on which Elijah 
had his trial with the priests of Baal, and where he 
called down the fire to consume the sacrifice; at the 
foot of Carmel is Megiddo where Josiah, in battle 
with Egypt's king, was wounded, and from which 
place he was driven rapidly in a chariot to 
Jerusalem — but he died of his wounds; beyond 
Esdraelon and Carmel are the mountains of Samaria; 
to the west is the Great Sea; and just below us is 
Nazareth, the home-city of Him who, because of his 
residence here, was called a Nazarene. 

Were there no history the scene from this hill 
would strongly appeal to the visitor to linger; but 
when the student of Bible story looks upon these 
sacred places it becomes to him more than a pano- 
rama of form and color — it becomes an arena on 
which many scenes of war and peace succeed each 
other. He will hear alternating songs of worshipers 
on the way to great feasts at far-off Jerusalem, and 
of children playing about their peaceful homes. 
And then he will hear the tread of armies, and see 
the banners of almost every nation under the sun 

15 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

pass over this plain, which is called the "battle-field 
of Palestine." And he will see the King of Peace 
walk over this soil that has drunk the life-blood of 
thousands, on his mission to conquer the world. He 
carries no sword; he speeds no arrow. His battle- 
cry is, "Love your enemies." 

When I stood here and saw all this, and tried to 
see on through the haze that rested on the farther 
mountains for, — I scarcely know what, except that I 
felt the lack of the tangible presence of Him who 
had controlled men and nations here, sometimes by 
his own voice, sometimes by angel-message, and 
often in the quiet call in the heart, — it was then that 
it came to me with great force, that since Jesus spent 
nearly all of the first thirty years of his life just 
below in the village, he must often as a child and as 
a man have stood just where I was standing — must 
often have looked on practically the same scenes as 
I was looking upon. Then I was happy; and I said, 
il He saw these hills, valleys and seas." And then 
remembering that John says, "All things were made 
through Him," (the Word), "and without Him was 
not anything made that hath been made," I added, 
"Yes, He not only saw, but He made it all; and not 
only these mountains, but the mountains of my native 
land as well; and if I will but believe it, they are as 
sacred as are these; and if I will look aright, I shall 
see Him, and if 1 will but listen, I shall hear Him, 
at my home-door, who made these mountains and this 
land holy." 

16 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 

But let us go down into the town. The hotel at 
which I put up was moderately well prepared to take 
care of an American. But as it was not for what 
could be furnished me by; hotels of recent establish- 
ment that I was in this land, but rather for what the 
land and its scars and mounds might be able to tell 
me, I have no quarrel to state concerning any enter- 
tainment accorded me, even though I slept several 
times on floor of earth or in couch filled with 
vermin. 

I am first taken to the Church of the Annuncia- 
tion, and there is pointed out to me the spot where 
Mary stood when the angel said to her that she 
should be the mother of the Christ-child. (The 
reader must remember that Nazareth was the home 
of Joseph and Mary before their trip to Bethlehem 
which resulted in the fulfillment of a prophecy by 
making it possible for the birth of Jesus to occur in 
the city where David also was born.) Next I am 
taken to the place where it is said that Joseph's car- 
penter shop stood, and where his son Jesus labored 
with him. Here there rises before me the picture 
of the painter who in his conception sees the young 
man lay down his tools for a moment and, standing 
upright, stretch out his arms laterally and cast his 
eyes upward. Just then his mother who happens to 
be in the shop, and who has many of his sayings 
treasured up in her heart, sees his shadow — a cross, 
on the farther wall — and to her it is a suggestion of 
evil portent concerning her son. 

17 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL 

Then I am shown the abrupt precipice on the 
hill-side where I am told that the people meant 
to cast Him over to kill him, on that Sunday 
when, on the occasion of a visit to his home in 
the time of his ministry, he declared himself to 
be the Messiah of prophecy. But he passed quietly 
away from the mob, and no man dared lay hands 
on him. From this time on he had "not where 
to lay his head." 

I am not sure that a single one of these places is 
properly identified; but I do know that here some- 
where the events that they are intended to commem- 
orate actually did occur. But when in the evening I 
pick my way out under the olive trees, following the 
path to the "Virgin's Fountain," and see the women 
ahead of me and some behind me with earthen jars 
on shoulder or head, and occasionally a child trudging 
beside a woman, I feel that I am looking upon a 
scene similar to one that was familiar to this place 
nineteen hundred years ago ; and it is not hard to see 
in fancy Mary and her child go to the same fountain 
to get a supply of water for the night in their humble 
home. And when I reach the fountain I find a com- 
pany of women and girls already there and engaged 
in animated conversation while they fill their jars. I 
cannot understand what they say, and since I have 
been told that it is the gossiping-place for the women 
of Nazareth I am not sure that to have understood 
would have been any better for me. But finally my 
presence is noted, and some one says something 
about "hawadje" (which means "Master") and then 

18 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 

they move back and give me an opportunity to drink. 
And now I have drunk from the only perennial spring 
of Nazareth; therefore, I have drunk from a spring 
that supplied drink for my Master during nearly the 
whole of his life. 

In thoughtful mood I walk back to the hotel, and 
seating myself on a balcony where alone I could 
watch the movements of the people about their 
homes in their Oriental costumes or standing on the 
flat roofs of their houses, I am soon lost to immediate 
surroundings. The fragrance of flowers and the 
voice-calls of the insect world in the twilight as the 
stars come out plume my imagination for a flight of 
fancy, — but even before the poise is complete, a 
Mohammedan prayer-chant changes my restful line 
of thought. Can it be that the religion of Islam can 
longer retain hold here where the true Messiah 
passed his childhood and youth ! No, the time is com- 
ing when Christ's kingdom shall prevail. And right 
here in Nazareth Christianity is already gaining a 
sure foothold. 

But our actual knowledge of the period of Jesus' 
life up to the time when he was about thirty years 
old is very limited. I have already noted his being 
brought to this place after the death of Herod the 
Great. Just how old he then was is not known ; but 
it is my thought that be was probably two or three 
years of age. Then through a period of a quarter of 
a century he was passing through a childhood not 
unlike that of other children, and a youth similar in 
temptation to and opportunity for all youth, — how- 

19 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

ever, it is specifically stated of him that he was sub- 
ject to his parents, and that he "grew, and waxed 
strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God 
was upon him." No picture was ever taken of him 
in color that future generations might look upon his 
likeness. And during the long period of seclusion 
here no word-sketch is given of him, except one, 
when for a brief time the curtain of silence was 
drawn aside by the inspired writer that we might look 
upon him as a boy-man. He was just twelve years 
of age, — the period of adolescence was upon him — 
the restless destiny-determining period in the life of 
man. I hold that it was not merely an accident that 
when the silence of Nazareth was broken it was that 
we might look upon Jesus at the age of twelve years. 
It is the age of youth's crisis. And if the vision of 
him now is perfect in its moral phase, it will not be 
necessary for us to see him again when he is fifteen 
years of age, or eighteen years of age, or even 
twenty-five years of age. Perfection here, it safely 
may be said, guarantees perfection in later life. 
What is the pioture we see? 

The boy accompanied his parents to the Jerusalem 
feast as their tender child. When they reached the 
city he saw the Temple and immediately began an 
inspection of it, — and by right, for it was his house. 
When he heard the unsound teachings of the doctors 
and lawyers his indignation was aroused and straight- 
way he went "about his Father's business" by show- 
ing those reputed great and wise men the ignorance 
and error of them all. To them he became a philos- 

20 



TARRYING AT THE HOME-HEARTH. 

opher and teacher of unfathomed depth. The boy 
had become a man. And when found by his parents 
he, to them, had become a Master, notwithstanding 
the fact that he came back home with them and 
lived on here the simple life of the people of this 
town. 

Then eighteen more years must pass before we 
shall see him again, — (except as imagination fills the 
blank for us). This time he is moved to leave his 
home city to be initiated into such ministry of teach- 
ing and service as would attack the prevailing belief, 
and which would ultimately create such opposition 
to him as would find no satisfaction except in his 
death. 

I am not able to say just when it dawned upon 
Jesus that he was to be the Saviour of the world, — 
the Bible does not tell. But we are told that when 
he was about thirty years of age he left Nazareth 
to go to the Jordan to be baptized by John. And we 
see him, obedient to some inner call, bid his father, 
mother and friends farewell, and then facing south- 
ward he is soon in the pass between the hills, — and 
then, with a last loving signal to his mother, he is 
gone — never to come back, except once or twice to 
declare his Messiahship to the playmates of his child- 
hood and the associates of his youth — and only to be 
rejected by them. For, though he came to this own 
of Nazareth with blessings on his lips and in his 
hands, his own received him not. 

And now, that foe is gone, Nazareth seems empty. 
True, the fragrance of his presence here seems 

21' 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

to linger in the flower-scented evening breeze, 
but my thought saw him disappear yonder. Let us 
follow. 



22 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him." 

— Isaiah 11:2. 
"I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto 
me, Thou art my Son ; this day have I begotten thee.' " 

— Psalms 2:7. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as' a 
dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou 
art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'" 

— Luke 3:22. 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

(At the River.) 

CHAPTER III. 

IT is a much; disputed question as to where Jesus 
was baptized. And in the absence of definite 
information upon the subject no one can afford 
to dogmatize. But this much seems sure — the waters 
of the Jordan were blessed by contact with his person 
in the administering of the sacred rite. 

The traditional site of the event, the one that has 
been accepted generally, is in the Jordan about six 
miles from its mouth. And to this place we shall go, 
following Him after whom we looked with heavy- 
hearted Mary for his "good-bye" to home and native 
town. The Bible narrative simply shows him leaving 
Nazareth, and next his arriving at the Jordan — as 
though it were now, "Good-bye, mother, I surrender 
your constant companionship and my sweet home 
comiforts," and then, "Good-morning, John, I submit 
to the rite, and I welcome the years of self-sacrifice 
and struggle ahead." 

But in his course to the Jordan he must have gone 
either across the valley of Esdraelon by the way of 
Shunem, the Pool of Gideon, and out through the 

valley of Jezreel, and then south along the Jordan; 

01 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

or else straight across the first-named valley, by the 
way of Jezreel, Jenin, Samaria, Shechem, Shiloh, 
Bethel, and then probably down the wadies of Suwei 
net and Kelt to Jericho and on to where John wai. 
baptizing. 

If he took either of these two routes, then almost 
immediately after the vision of his mother had faded 
from his sight he was walking over soil that had been 
drenched again and again with the hot blood of pas- 
sion in the great struggles of men for supremacy in 
this land, or elsewhere. Here in this valley of decis- 
ion he could see marshaled hosts; he could hear the 
call to battle; he could hear the rush of chariots; 
and midst the slaughter of men of many nations, and 
of several kings, he could see the flow of blood, and 
hear in strange languages the wail of multitudes of 
widows and orphans. And how his heart must have 
yearned in sad compassion for the misguided ambi- 
tions of men who in their madness forget that to be 
great means first of all submission to the right, to be 
rich means to be content with what one has, and that 
to be victorious in life's greatest battle means first a 
surrender. And while these great and oft-enunciated 
truths surged through his thought there came anew 
the willingness that the blood of his own body might 
some day drench the soil of this same land that men 
should learn war no more, but live daily the over- 
coming life of the Prince of Peace, in the full frui- 
tion of whose kingdom swords shall be beaten into 
plowshares and spears into pruning-hooks; and in 
whose kingdom there shall be no searching for the 

24 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

slain in carnal battle nor weeping at their finding, 
but instead there shall be great rejoicing at the har- 
vest-home of earth's peaceful fruitage. And this fur- 
ther wish must have been with him, that men might 
emulate his manner of living and doing even though 
it meant for each follower a path of crimson like to 
that of his great Exemplar. 

Then he would pass through, or near, Shunem, 
where death yielded to the prayer of Elisha, and from 
which point he> could see Little Hermon where after 
a short season he himself would touch the bier of 
one dead and send back to her home a widow happy 
in possession of her only son. 

If he took the former of the two routes mentioned 
he would then pass between the mountains of Little 
Hermon and Gilboa, out from under the latter of 
which issues the strong fountain known as the Pool 
of Gideon and the testing-place of Gideon's army; 
then a little farther to the east he would pass the old 
town of Beth-shan, on whose walls were exposed the 
headless trunks of Saul and Jonathan after the bloody 
battle of Gilboa, to remain until the men of Jabesh- 
gilead came in the night and secretly took them 
away to their home city and there reverently buried 
them. 

If he took the latter of the two routes outlined he 
would pass by the spot where was Naboth's vineyard, 
hard by the king's palace at Jezreel, and because of 
which the good but unfortunate owner was stoned to 
death to gratify the cupidity of the wicked house of 
Ahab. Next he would pass through the beautiful vale 

25 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

of Dothan where Joseph was sold to the traders by 
his brethren — an event typical of his own betrayal 
later by one of his Apostolic family. Then he would 
pass through the town of Samaria, for many years the 
capital of the godless kings of the northern tribes. 
A little later he would go through the narrow pass 
between Ebal and Gerizim where yet stands She- 
chem. Here Abraham, his great forefather, built his 
first altar in Canaan; and to this place the whole 
multitude of Israel came first upon entering the land 
after rhedr long wilderness-wandering to make their 
vows and covenant in the presence of Joshua and 
the Elders. In a little while he would pass Jacob's 
well. And then, although Shiloh is not now on the 
direct trail from Shechem to Jerusalem, I think he 
would turn aside to tarry a moment to look where 
for nearly five hundred years, during almost all of 
the period of the Judges, the Ark with its sacred 
light, the Shechinah, the type of himself, rested in 
the geographical center of the land, in the midst of 
Israel. Can it be that this simple Israelite, dressed 
in flowing robe and sandals and tanned by the Syrian 
sun, is the anti-type of that divine fire so long held 
sacred and so carefully and reverently guarded in the 
mysterious Holy of Holies where it rested over the 
Mercy Seat! We shall see. 

Later he would reach Bethel, where Abraham gave 
Lot his choice of territory, looking for 'his own best 
things beyond the skies — for "a city which hath foun- 
dations, whose builder and maker is God." Here, 
also, Jacob had his vision of the ladder and the 

26 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

angels, and heard the voice of God, and set up his 
memorial. And here Jeroboam set up one of his 
golden calves, thus making Israel to sin. Then I 
think Jesus passed down the steep path along the 
wadies of Suweinet and Kelt to Jericho and on to the 
river, — and the journey is ended. To him it must 
have been fraught with the greatest of interest, as 
he passed over sites where events of epochal nature 
in the history of his people had occurred. But greater 
things of far greater reach are at hand. But first let 
us note a few of the general features of this region 
to which Jesus has just come. 

The Jordan is the biggest little river in the world. 
The distance, air-line, from the Sea of Galilee to the 
Dead Sea, is not over sixty-five miles; but the river 
is so tortuous in its windings that its bed from sea 
to sea is about two hundred miles in length. The 
narrowness of the stream is a surprise to most peo- 
ple,- — it is said not to be over one hundred feet wide 
at any place in its course, except in times of over- 
flow. It is a river of rapid descent; — a few miles 
north of the Sea of Galilee it is on a level with 
the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, and when it 
reaches the Dead Sea, less than a hundred miles 
away, it has reached a depth of thirteen hundred 
feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea; and 
if the Dead Sea were dried up, we would find a 
depression yet thirteen hundred feet deeper. 

The Valley, or Ghor, of the Jordan is in itself a 
wonder in nature. Geographers tell us that there 
may be such a depression on some other planet, but 

27 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

that nowhere else on earth is its equal. They tell us 
that a man standing at the mouth of the Jordan is 
as far below sea-level as is the man who works in 
the deepest mine. 

The water of the Dead Sea is "famous for its 
density, its bitterness and its buoyancy." It is very 
salt — five times as salt as ocean water. It contains 
sulphur and bitter substances in solution, so strong 
that a bather must be careful not to permit it to enter 
his mouth or nostrils. The buoyancy of the water is 
very great, tending to lift and invert one who cannot 
swim. Save near the mouth of the Jordan nothing 
can live in the Dead Sea; but it is mere sentimental 
folly to say that no bird can fly over its surface. 
Fish that are carried down by the flood of the Jordan 
are quickly killed by the sea-water, and some that 
are cast on the shore by the waves seem semi-petri- 
fied. Were it not for the brittleness of their fins and 
tails, I think they would prove quite desirable as 
relics. 

The land, for possibly the distance of a mile from 
the Sea, is a picture of desolation and death — no 
vegetation, except here and there a straggling black 
bush, as though the curse of God were on it and the 
entire region. There are slime-pits and morasses, until 
you realize that it would be rather difficult to find a 
safe way to or from the Sea without the assistance 
of a guide. Even with a guide our carriage mired in 
a marshy place and we were compelled to retrace our 
way for some distance to get on a better and safer 
track. 

28 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

The climate in this valley, with high mountain 
walls on either side, is semi-tropical. Bananas were 
ripening at the time of my visit, (in November) , and 
most of the people about Jericho were living in 
booths of brush. The reader remembering that alti- 
tude and latitude affect climate similarly will not be 
surprised to learn that down at Jericho wheat ripens 
three weeks earlier than at Jerusalem, only about 
twenty miles away, but four thousand feet higher in 
elevation. And we must not forget that on Mount 
Hermon, only about one hundred miles away, snow 
lies all the year through. Between these two ex- 
tremes are to be found in Palestine every condition 
of climate, and, (in the history of the land), almost 
every kind of plant and animal life. 

And this fact helps to explain to me why thi« little 
land — a land not more than one-fourth the size of 
Virginia — should be chosen as a habitation for Israel, 
in preference to all other lands on earth. It helps 
me to understand why Abraham was brought out of 
the fertile and populous great valley of the East and 
given a tent-existence here; why the Shechinah, the 
divine light that came among the people at Sinai, 
was to be kept sacred here in the midst of Israel ter- 
ritorially and governmentally ; but especially why 
the anti-type of the Shechinah, Immanuel, should be 
born here, live his third of a century on its soil, prob- 
ably never at any time after his return from Egypt, 
wandering more than a hundred and fifteen miles 
from the place of his birth, and that here he should 
die, rise again, and go back to his Father. 

29 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

To me it comes like a flash of revelation that He 
who was "in all points tempted as we are" could not 
have been placed in any other region in the world 
where in such contracted area all the temptations 
peculiar to the race, in cold, warm, and temperate 
climate, (and each condition of climate brings its 
peculiar temptations), could be met like he was able 
to meet them here in Palestine. And it was needful 
that he tarry among the people who knew the proph- 
ecies concerning him, that by many and infallible 
proofs he might have trustworthy witnesses, — even 
some from among his enemies, that He is the Christ. 
And this he could not have done had he been a world- 
traveler to meet the temptations peculiar to men in 
all zones and there to overcome them. He did all 
this in his little home-land and proved his Messiah- 
ship to his home-people, and through them, thor- 
oughly indoctrinated, he has proved and is now prov- 
ing it to the world. 

But let us go to the River. In doing so we shall 
pass the traditional spot where stood Gilgal, and then 
on over alternating small sand ridges and patches of 
coarse grass until we reach the edge of the upper 
bed of the stream. Here we find oleander and sage 
bush in varying degree of dense or sparse growth, 
but lining the banks of the lower bed of the river it 
is so dense that at few places can the water be seen 
without one's pushing a way through them. 

We have reached the water's edge, and we find a 
narrow, muddy stream of uncertain depth. Where I 
first saw the Jordan, six miles below the Sea of Gali- 

30 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

lee, the water was clear and sparkling; but here, 
how different! And I am told that it is always so, — 
that the tributaries bring in their contribution of silt 
and thus keep the lower course of this stream always 
clouded. And thus it was at the time of Naaman's 
visit to this land; and it is no wonder that he felt a 
bath in his own clear waters of Syria to be preferable 
to one in the turbid Jordan, and not only preferable, 
but just as efficacious for healing his leprosy. 

The Greek Catholics are exceedingly anxious to 
bathe in the Jordan, and as tradition locates this spot 
as the scene of the baptism of Jesus, here is the 
place to which they come for their bath. And since 
they make long pilgrimages to reach this place and 
come in such great numbers, especially about Easter- 
time, the spot is popularly known as the Pilgrims' 
Bathing Place. 

If the tradition that locates this spot as the place 
of the baptism of Jesus be well founded, then it was 
a sacred place in history before he came to be bap- 
tized. Here were miracles of divided waters long 
prior to this coming — once to permit the whole body 
of Israelites under the leadership of Joshua to enter 
the land of promise; once when just before the 
translation of Elijah he and Elisha wanted to cross; 
and again when a little later Elisha returned alone 
to the river bearing the dropped mantle of his then 
missing companion. 

But the hour for the baptism of the world's Mes- 
siah is at hand. Let us draw near and observe closely 
all that transpires. 

31 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

For several days John has been in this region 
preaching — telling with unusual fervor that the king- 
dom of heaven is at hand. His zeal has attracted 
people from near and from far; and so penetrating 
is his message that even the churchmen of Jerusa- 
lem are led to believe that possibly he himself is the 
long expected Messiah of Israel's hope. But to their 
embassy he denies his Messiahship and declares him- 
self to be simply the "voice of one crying in the 
wilderness, 

'Make ye ready the way of the Lord, 
Make his paths straight.' " 
Yes, this John was the Voice of the "Word" of the 
other John. Notwithstanding the denial and declara- 
tion of John the multitudes flocked to him, and 
at his call to get ready for the kingdom that was 
"at hand", by repenting and being baptized, many 
responded. 

Among the number that presented themselves to 
John for baptism was Jesus. It must not be thought 
that he, hearing John preach, was convicted of sin 
and therefore sought relief of conscience, as did 
others, in repentance and in submission to baptism. 
No, there was no sin in his life that he should be 
penitent; and as to baptism, I understand that to him 
it was not essential. But there being no sin in the 
application of water to his body, and its being in con- 
formity with the prevailing opinion of those present 
that it was right, he said to John (who hesitated to 
baptize the only absolutely pure one in the world 
and who felt that the purest should baptize the less 

32 



THE DOVE AND THE VOICE. 

pure, and so expressed his thought), "Suffer it now: 
for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness." 
Yes, it was in keeping with the expectation of all 
present at the preaching of John that any one pro- 
fessing to be in sympathy with John's mission should 
submit to the visible sign of those declaring them- 
selves ready for the "kingdom." For any one to 
refuse to be subject to the ordinance would be to 
alienate from himself the trustful sympathy that he 
would need if ever he wished to teach concerning 
the laws of that kingdom. Thus, while water bap- 
tism was not essential in the life of Jesus, it was, as 
he said, "becoming" that he should observe it. 

Then John baptized him. And immediately two 
strange things happened — the Spirit of God was seen 
and the Voice of God was heard. The form of the 
Spirit as seen here was that of the gentle dove; it 
descended and rested upon him, — and John saw it 
and then remembered that it had been told him that 
he would know him upon whom he would see the 
Spirit descend and abide to be the Messiah. But 
that was not all, — a voice was heard. It was the voice 
of his Father; and He said, "Thou art my beloved 
Son, in thee I am well pleased." So here we see to- 
gether in manifestation for the first time in the his- 
tory of the world the Trinity. Jesus is now anointed 
for his holy office of ministration, and is henceforth 
distinctively the Christ, the anointed one. And the 
reality of his divine Sonship cannot longer be reason- 
ably disputed, for the Father himself has attested it. 

But immediately after the baptism the same Spirit 

33 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

that had anointed him with gentle dove-like pressure, 
it is said, drove him into the Wilderness to be 
tempted of the devil. And, having once beheld his 
glory, the valley seems lonely without him. 









THE NIGHT VISION. 

"Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God." 

— Deuteronomy 6:16. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came 
and ministered unto him." — Matthew 4:11. 




THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA— WHERE HE "WAS 
TEMPTED. 



THE TEMPTER AND THE ANGELS. 



THE TEMPTER AND THE ANGELS. 

(In the Wilderness.) 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE night I spent at Jericho will never be for- 
gotten by me. When I returned from the 
Dead Sea and the Jordan the day was almost 
gone. And the scene is with me as I write. The 
sun is setting — a remarkable sunset indeed. Not a 
cloud is to be seen. I am in the deepest gorge on 
the face of the earth — that is, the deepest below 
sea-level. On the east and on the west the land 
rises to a great height above me. The western 
mountains are lined along their summits with a 
golden light which deepens as I look up from the 
horizon and complete the vault of heaven until my 
eyes rest on the mountains to the eastward where 
a beautiful purple shading is spread out on rock and 
clay cliff as on a canvas. To the north-east across 
the river the purple is of a regal splendor, suggest- 
ing the pomp of power and a rule of plenty and of 
joy. But as the eye sweeps slowly southward along 
Gilead to Moab and the farther south, the color-gar- 
ment of royal purple is gradually changed to the 
black livery of mourning; and as I look aoross the 

35 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

Sea of Death to the southern extremity of the Black 
Wall of Moab, th£ hues are so somber that it seems 
almost as if a wailing lamentation must fall upon 
my ears. 

And then filled with vivid imaginings of the place 
as I know it in history, I see Lot hurrying down to 
this rich region with his servants and flocks to settle 
at Sodom, — and he is happy in his choice; then I see 
the Kings from the north enter the city to take Lot 
and his people captive, and their possessions as spoils 
of war, — but Abraham pursues and retakes and 
restores all; later a great conflagration breaks out 
in the city and Lot and his two daughters only escape. 
Time passes; and then I see Joshua cross the river 
with his great host of home-seeking Israelites and go 
into camp at Gilgal; I watch the oft-repeated silent 
march of the people around the walls of Jericho 
until finally 'midst the blasts of rams' horns and the 
shouts of men I see the city taken. And among 
many other things that I seem to see I mention only 
these: the anxious, determined Zaccheus climbing 
the tree to see Jesus, and then entertaining him in 
his own home; and the sad cry of the blind men for 
healing, and then their glad cry of joy, — for now 
they see. But the thoughts of so many things that 
happened here come trooping through my mind that 
to speak of them all would distort the plan and pur- 
pose of this book. I fall asleep feeling that surely 
this is "holy ground." Waking in the night, I lie a 
long time listening to the strange barking of jackals 
that are prowling about the vi!!?ge. 

36 



THE TEMPTER AND THE ANGELS. 

And it was in this same valley and near to this 
same spot that the events described in the previous 
chapter took place. Let us go again to the place where 
last we saw the Nazarene. 

The multitudes still wait upon John's preaching; 
but the glad news that had circulated among the 
hosts that the Messiah had been seen created an 
intense desire in others to see Him, — and so on every 
hand I seemed to hear, "Where is He?" "Will He 
attend upon John's preaching to-day?", etc. But no 
satisfactory answer was given. So I saw the people 
scanning each others' faces as they met, looking for 
Israel's new-found King. Finally it was reported that 
when last seen, his face, with expression of firm reso- 
lution, was set toward the Wilderness of Judea, and 
thither as though pressed on by an unseen power his 
steps rapidly tended. Thus again he turned his back 
upon congenial companionship and warm regard, and 
this time faced the inhospitable wilderness; — and 
even with John to give cheer, the deep valley seemed 
filled with restlessness and strange forebodings. Just 
when they had learned to know the Messiah, He left 
them, — and why? They knew not. The evening 
shadows of the hills are on the people, but a darker 
shadow is on their hearts. The song of the night- 
bird is a cry of ill omen to them. Oh, where now is 
the world's great Friend! By the early morning light 
let us start in earnest search for Him. 

There is a difference of opinion as to the exact 
location of the Wilderness into which Jesus was 
driven, but I incline to the view that it was the region 

37 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

lying between Jerusalem and the northern end of the 
Dead Sea. If this be the place, then the scene of the 
Temptation is a wild and desolate region indeed. 
When I passed through the outskirts of it, there was 
scarcely a sign of greenness of vegetation; and some 
cattle that were being driven through it had fallen 
exhausted and famishing by the way, and the herds- 
man was gathering some dry stubbles and feeding 
them to the prostrated beasts. 

Rock ridges and barrenness as far as the eye can 
reach are seen in a southerly direction. And those 
who have penetrated farther than I went tell us of 
increased ruggedness and of a number of wadies 
with precipitous walls in some cases a thousand feet 
high, — now so lonely that the very silence and heat 
seem to cry out in mockery and derision at the 
intruder whose temerity has led him to venture into 
the realms where desolation and death seem to sit 
snthroned as joint-sovereigns. And it must always 
have been so. It must have been like this when 
Jesus was driven into it. If so, what a place for the 
gentle son of Mary! — doubtless a cave for his shelter 
and a rock for his pillow, and wild beasts for his 
companions (for Mark says it), and gnawing hunger 
with no food to satisfy! 

It would seem that the long fasting of forty days 
and forty nights with no human being near to aid or 
comfort in any way would be a strain greater than 
any mere man could bear. But Jesus does it, and 
He still lives. But this is not all. For when the ter- 
rors of nature in its hostile phases — blighted vegeta- 

38 



THE TEMPTER AND THE ANGELS. 

tion, heat, ferocious animals, loneliness and hunger — 
fail to crush him (though he is weakened in his phy- 
sical nature to an indescribable degree) , then it is that 
the door of the world of the lost is thrown open and 
Satan appears immediately upon the scene. The mo- 
ment is most auspicious for him. If he can get the 
weakened hungry one to make bread by miracle sim- 
ply to satisfy his own hunger, then he is not enduring 
as any man under the circumstances would have to 
endure; if he can get him so far to forget his mis- 
sion to serve man as to seek fame regardless of ser- 
vice, then he is not doing as he taught that men 
should do to be great; and if he can get him to sur- 
render his faith in God and bow to Satan, then he 
breaks the first commandment. If he fail in any one 
of these his example is not in harmony with his 
teaching, and he cannot be the Saviour of men. But 
he does not fail. He stands the test in every point — 
proves himself proof against all forms of temptation. 
And when the tempter found that he could not swerve 
him from his mission he left him. And angels came 
and ministered unto him. 

There is a theory that not on Calvary but here in 
the Wilderness Christ wrought the atonement for the 
race. I do not assent to the view. But had he 
failed here, even though he later surrendered to the 
death of the cross, I hold that redemption had not 
been made. Likewise, after overcoming here, had 
he refused to die for men, he had not redeemed men. 
So here is my creed, — not alone in the Wilderness, 
not alone on Calvary, but here and there, and every- 

39 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL 

where from Bethlehem to Olivet his track of crimson 
attests the redeeming work of our Saviour. If he 
failed in any step, if each footprint did not bear the 
blood-mark of sacrifice, then he is not the Christ, — 
for an unfulfilled duty means an incomplete life; 
and incompleteness mars the example, — and if the 
example is not perfect it cannot win to perfection 
those who look to it. No phase of the Christ-life on 
earth must be undervalued. It is the Christ living, 
teaching, suffering, dying, rising, ascending, and inter- 
ceding, that saves. 

The Wilderness-struggle was the Master's great 
early trial. But while earth and the powers of dark- 
ness were leagued against him, the Father and the 
angels were watching with deep interest and abid- 
ing sympathy for the outcome of the conflict. It is 
over, and Jesus is victorious. And after the victory, 
angels come to him to offer sweet ministration. Is 
it not ever thus: no struggle, no victor's joy; no 
suffering for the right, no angel ministration? 



40 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he 
teach sinners in the way." — Psalms 25:8. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"So the woman left her waterpot, and went away into 
the city, and saith to the men, 'Come, see a man, who 
told me all things that ever I did: can this be the 
Christ ?'"— John 4:28, 29. 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 
(At the Well.) 

CHAPTER V. 

£ EMERGING from the Wilderness, the victor* 
j^ laurels on his brow and the fragrance of 
angel-ministration on his person, the Man 
of Sorrows came with the firm step of a conqueror. 
We shall follow him back to where John is preach- 
ing and baptizing. 

While the awful struggle was on it seems that 
John had been telling of him and watching for his 
return, yet no doubt himself anxious and perplexed 
as to what the long delay of forty days in seclusion 
might signify. But the preacher said, "I have 
seen him; I know that it is he, the Messiah, that 
should come". 

At last he came. And then John's next duty was 
to introduce to the people about him this one who 
was a little while before a puzzle to him, but was 
now definitely known to him as the world's hope. 
John saw Jesus passing, — the moment of climax for 
which John was born had arrived. Pointing to him 
he called the attention of the multitudes by saying, 
"Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 

41 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

of the world". That was the sunlit mountain-sum- 
mit of all John's ministry. The old order was pass- 
ing; the new order by this announcement had just 
been ushered in. 

Then Andrew and another disciple of John turned 
to follow Jesus, as the disciples of every true 
preacher must likewise do, and asking him where he 
was tarrying they received the gracious invitation, 
"Come and see". And having heard this kind in- 
vitation to them, let us in these after centuries have 
boldness also to seek his abiding-place. Our Friend 
wants us to seek him; and surely he will be pleased 
at our trying in these later times to find and follow 
the path every step of which he crimsoned with the 
voluntarily surrendered Wood of his life that we 
might know the way. 

When Andrew found the booth and remained a 
while in the presence of its divine occupant he was 
so transformed and Spirit-filled that he hurried to 
find his brother Peter that he might introduce him 
to Christ. How far-reaching sometimes is a simple 
introduction! It often changes a whole life. Some- 
times it means to league two persons with multi- 
plied strength in a great cause; and sometimes it 
means to open the door to one who will betray the 
other. 

When Andrew in his simplicity brought his brother 
to Jesus he saw the world's greatest Teacher and 
that Teacher's greatest future Apostle standing face 
to face. And the Master's tender look and gracious 
words and re-naming of Peter determined Peter's 

42 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 

career, — from that hour his goal was set high. An- 
drew's greatest work, that of bringing his brother 
to Jesus, is done; that brother's greatest work is 
beginning. In the prosecution of that work his voice 
will ring clear declaring the Messiahship of Jesus to 
his unbelieving nation; his touch and prayer will 
bring back life to the dead; and his own life will 
finally be surrendered in full a willing sacrifice for 
the glory of him whom he first met at the request 
of Andrew. 

But Jesus had his face set toward Galilee, and 
finding Philip he bade him follow. And Philip 
filled with joy at having found the long-expected 
Messiah gave testimony of his feelings to Nathaniel, 
concluding that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ 
of prophecy. Nathaniel doubted; his home was at 
Cana, near Nazareth, and he could not believe that 
anything very good would come out from that de- 
spised town. Philip did not argue the question; he 
simply said, "Come and see". Nathaniel went; and 
the sequel of the meeting was that he left all and 
followed the Nazarene through all his ministry an 
honored apostle. 

Then with a little band of followers who may 
be called disciples — men who were with him to learn 
of him, and to learn especially to know him — Jesus 
passed north into Galilee, stopping for a festal event 
at Cana. 

The Cana of to-day is a village of about six hun- 
dred people; and there seems little doubt that it 
stands where the Cana of nineteen hundred years 

43 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

ago stood. If so, being in Cana, I am standing where 
Nathaniel lived. If so, then here is the place 
where occurred the first public miracle of Jesus, as 
recorded of his ministry — the miracle at the wedding 
feast. 

But where is the spot? I am shown through an 
enclosed space in which the natives are drying len- 
tils (a small bean much used for food in Palestine) , 
and on to a chapel that is said to occupy the site 
where stood the house in which the wedding festivi- 
ties were celebrated, and where when they lacked 
wine, the harmless and much-used drink of that 
land, an abundance was furnished by bringing water 
from the town spring that the Master might trans- 
form it into satisfying tasteful wine. In this chapel 
I see two large stone waterpots, said to be of the 
six filled with water at the Master's direction while 
the gay-hearted company made merry. But when 
I read in my Bible that the waterpots used on that 
occasion held two or three firkins apiece, and note 
that none of these would hold more than a firkin, I 
am convinced that the tradition concerning them 
is not well founded. But when I go out to the 
fountain that must always have been Cana's 
source of water-supply and drink of it I feel 
satisfied that I have taken a drink from the foun- 
tain from which the water was gotten that was 
made wine. 

"After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and 
his mother and his brethren, and his disciples: and 
there they abode not many days." 

44 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 

In a little while the feast of the Passover was 
due and Jesus went to Jerusalem, and there he 
cleansed the Temple of those that were making it 
a house of merchandise. Then followed his con- 
versation with the conscientious, truth-seeking Nico- 
demus, with the climax of gracious announcement, 
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only 
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him 
should not perish, but have eternal life". 

Passing out of the city to some place in the land 
of Judea he tarried with his disciples while they 
baptized. When John heard of it, he was glad that 
more were coming to Jesus than to himself; and 
then he gave utterance to that famous and oft-quoted 
sentence — "He must increase, but I must decrease". 
All John's gathering was not in his own name, nor 
for himself, but in the name and for the glory of 
him whose shoe-latchet he said he was "not worthy 
to unloose". 

John's fame was great, but he fell into disfavor 
with the king, and a little later his bleeding trunk 
was left in prison while his severed head was car- 
ried to the king's wife that she might gloat over it 
in satisfied revenge and cast words of irony and scorn 
upon those lips that in life would not be silent in 
the presence of sin. 

Turning his face again to the north Jesus will go 
this time through the hostile middle division of the 
land — hostile to the Jews — "he must needs pass 
through Samaria". He stops for a while at a well 
near Shechem. 

45 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

It was on the 9th of November that I reached 
this place. To get to the well I secured permission 
of the custodian— for the well is in an enclosed 
place. . Within the enclosure, in a little while I find 
the well; it is in the ruined crypt of a chapel that 
once stood here. I stand at its mouth, and taking 
my Bible from my pocket, I begin to read the fourth 
chapter of John's Gospel. It tells me that a long time 
ago a little company traveling from the south reached 
this place one day about noon, and that while the 
rest of the party went on to a near-by town to get 
food, the leader, being weary, sat down on the 
well. 

That travel-stained, weary leader was Jesus. And 
wishing to get nearer to him in thought, if possible, 
I seat myself on the well-covering. And now I know 
that I am either sitting exactly where he sat, or I can 
place my hand where he sat, for it is certain that this 
is the well referred to in the narrative that I am 
reading. 

Reading on, I find that while he sat there a woman 
came down from a town near by to get water. 
Thirsty, he asked her for a drink. She was sur- 
prised that this tired Jew should ask her, a Samari- 
tan, for a drink, for "J ews have no dealings with 
Samaritans". She expressed her surprise to him. 
He replied by telling her that if only she knew him 
as well as she recognized his Jewish features, garb, 
and voice, she would have done the asking for a 
drink, and he would have given her such water that 
when she had drunk of if she would never thirst 

46 




JACOB'S WELL-WHERE HE TAUGHT THE LONE 

WOMAN. 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 

any more. In reply she said first, "Sir, thou hast 
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep". Then 
I look down into those dark depths. It is a deep 
well — seventy-five feet deep at the present time; but 
at one time it was over a hundred feet deep. In 
diameter it is seven and a-half feet. It is arched at 
the top. Its real mouth and cover seem to have 
been discovered in 1881 by Dr. Barclay. The open- 
ing in the cover is about seventeen and a-half 
inches in diameter. Around this opening is a raised 
portion of the rock in the form of a square, — and 
this elevation is three or four inches high and 
about the same in thickness, and it is worn deep 
in grooves made by drawing for the thirsty of,— 
I do not know how many generations of man and 
of beast. 

And then in amazement at the boldness of his 
declaration, she said further, ''Art thou greater than 
our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank 
thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Then 
I was carried back in thought more than another 
thousand years in time. I said, "Jacob dug this 
well? Then it is at least three thousand seven hun- 
dred years old!" And, then I placed my fingers in 
one of the deepest of the grooves in the well-covering 
and said, "Possibly this groove in which my fingers 
now rest was partially worn in drawing water for 
that old man who wrestled with the angel just over 
yonder to the eastward on the banks of the 
Jabbok!" 

And the woman also snirl that his sons drank here; 

47 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

if so, then Joseph slaked his thirst here. Joseph, — 
his tomb is just yonder, only a little way from this 
well. The reader will doubtless remember that when 
Joseph died in Egypt, he was embalmed, and put in 
a coffin; and then when the bondage of Israel was 
broken they gathered up his bones, in keeping with 
his dying request and carried them all through their 
wilderness wanderings of forty years' duration; and 
on entering the land one of the first things that 
the people did was to take the bones of Joseph to 
bury them here in the parcel of ground that his 
father had long before given him. 

And since this place is near to Shechem it is 
evident that judges and kings, prophets and priests 
here have drunk. And since Jesus was thirsty and 
weary and asked for a drink I feel sure that here he 
also drank. Then I long for a drink, and express my 
desire as best I can to the custodian. But he re- 
plied that if I wanted a drink I should have come 
in the spring-time when there was plenty of water 
in the well — now there is none. Then seeing a look 
of disappointment on my face, he said through my 
interpreter that he would show me the well. So 
stepping to the side of the crypt he took a little 
wicker basket, to which was attached a long cord, 
and placing three small lighted waxen candles in it 
he lowered it slowly while I sat and watched. I saw 
the manner of construction of the well, where it 
seemed to have been cut through solid rock, and 
where it seemed carefully and well walled; and then 
I saw the dry botto— ^- five feet below me. 

48 



THE FORGOTTEN WATERPOT. 

Considering the age of the well, I am surprised 
greatly that the work could have been so well 
done. 

As the lighted candles rose again through the well, 
a happy thought came to me, — if I could not get a 
drink of water where He taught that he was the 
Water of Life, I could get a candle, and would get 
it, for He also declared himself to be the Light of 
the World. I took the candle (paying for it, of 
course), and to-day it graces my cabinet of sacred 
mementos of the land of Him who made crimson 
his path. More than a hundred times have I lighted 
it in my home-land in memory of the well and of 
Him. 

Following the reference to the water, he revealed 
to the woman that he knew she was a person of 
disreputable character. She tried to change the sub- 
ject of conversation by calling attention to the rival 
worship existing between the Samaritans, whose tem- 
ple was on the near-by mountain of Gerizim, and the 
Jews, whose Temple was at Jerusalem. Jesus told 
her that the Father was only pleased with worship 
that was rendered in spirit and in truth. And then 
he told her plainly that he was the Christ. 

So surprised was the woman that she forgot her 
real mission at the well, and forgetting her water- 
pot she hurried home to her city to tell the people 
that she had found the Messiah. And "many 
of the Samaritans believed on him because of the 
word of the woman, who testified, 'He told me 
all things that ever I did' ". It was a great day 

49 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

for Samaria. Thus it ever is. Minor duties must 
be performed, but a true vision of the Christ puts 
first things first. 



bQ 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"The voice of the Lord is upon the waters." 

—Psalms 29:3. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And he awoke, and rebuked the wind, and said unto 
the sea, 'Peace, be still.' And the wind ceased, and there 
was a great calm." — Mark 4:39. 



STILLING STORMS. 



STILLING STORMS. 
(At the Lake.) 

CHAPTER VI. 

JESUS remained in this part of Samaria two 
days with his disciples teaching the people 
that came out to see him, — and many "believed 
on him". Then he went forth into Galilee; and pass- 
ing again by Cana, he was there met by a resident 
of Capernaum, a nobleman, or king's officer, who 
had heard of his coming and had hurried out to 
meet him. There was great grief in his home — his 
son was at the point of death, and he, the father, 
wanted Jesus. The nobleman importuned Jesus to 
come immediately for his child was dying. But when 
he was told to return to his home for the child would 
live, he hurried back without the person of Jesus to 
find that virtue of Jesus had preceded him, for at 
the very moment of Jesus'* word of life to him the 
child began to mend. The storm of unrest in his 
own life had been mastered at Cana, and peace and 
healing reigned in his home at Capernaum. 

From Cana it seems that Jesus went back to 
Nazareth; and in the synagogue of his youth, where 
he had doubtless heard many a rabbi explain the 
prophecies concerning the Messiah, he declared 

51 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

himself to be the promised One. His teaching was 
odious to them, and they thrust him out of the syna- 
gogue, and out of the city, and "led him unto the 
brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that 
they might throw him down headlong. But he, pass- 
ing through the midst of them, went his way". 

Rejected at Nazareth, he finds a home at Caper- 
naum by the Galilasan Sea. And then was fulfilled 
the prophecy of Isaiah, saying, 

"The people that sat in darkness saw a great light, 
And to them that sat in the region and shadow of 

death, 
To them did light spring up." 

While Capernaum is henceforth to be regarded as 
the home of Jesus he was by no means continuously 
within its gates. But the record says that he "went 
about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, 
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and heal- 
ing all manner of disease and all manner of sickness 
among the people. And the report of him went forth 
into all Syria: and they brought unto him all that 
were sick, holden with divers diseases, and torments, 
possessed with demons, and epileptic, and palsied; 
and he healed them. And there followed him great 
multitudes from Galilee and Decapolis and Jerusa- 
lem and Judea and from beyond Jordan." 

To the multitudes he preached the Sermon on the 
Mount out at the Horns of Hattin only a little way 
from Tiberias. On one of his trips somewhere in 

52 



STILLING STORMS. 

Galilee he healed a leper. In Capernaum he healed 
a paralytic that was let down to him through the 
roof of the house in which he was, because of the 
many people crowding about him. And it was in 
Capernaum that he raised the dead daughter of Jairus 
to life — manifesting in all his healing, but especially 
in raising the dead, that He is Life. And here he too 
in a special manner proved that He is the Light of 
men, by opening the eyes of two who were blind. 

A little later he made choice of twelve men who 
were to continue with him throughout all his minis- 
try. And it is my thought that among those twelve 
were represented almost, if not every, kind of tem- 
perament and disposition found among men; and 
thus he would be able to show that saved people are 
not moulded after the same pattern, and that though 
all are saved alike, yet each preserves his own in- 
dividuality. And it is my belief that the reader of 
these lines who is in the present-day school of Christ, 
might be appropriately called by the name of one of 
the Twelve, because the essential traits, tempera- 
ment, and disposition of his life harmonize with 
those of that particular apostle. And, if he be saved, 
it matters little whether he be an Andrew or a John ; 
a Thomas or a Philip. But let him beware that he 
be not a Judas. 

It seems that not long after this he and his dis- 
ciples were passing through the Valley of Esdraelon 
and they came to Nain, where they met a funeral 
procession at the gate of the town. Here in the 
presence of his disciples he manifested his power 

53 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

to give warmth and life to the cold dead. Again at 
the Sea of Galilee, the miracle of stilling the storm 
by his calm words of power took place. Later he 
went across the Lake and met the demoniac of 
Gadara and sent him home to his friends, "clothed 
and in his right mind", while the legion of devils that 
had come out of the man and had entered into the 
swine caused the whole herd to rush in wild violence 
over the rugged rocks into the sea, and there to perish. 
Jesus saved the man, but the devils killed the swine. 

The story of his movements seems to tell that 
again he went to Nazareth, but "could do no mighty 
work, save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk, 
and healed them. And he marveled because of their 
unbelief". 

Next I merely mention the Apostolic commission, 
the feeding of the five thousand near Bethsaida, his 
walking to his own on the raging sea, and his de- 
claring himself to be the Bread of Life. And thus, 
everywhere he went, in his teaching and touch he 
showed that steps of crimson would give light and 
life to men. 

My approach to the Sea of Galilee was from the 
south. It was about 9 a. m. of the day following my 
awful night at Jisr el Mejamia that I came to the 
expanded waters of the Sea. We had spent a couple 
of hours picking our way through marshy places and 
jumping our horses at times over small streams in 
ditch-like channels. Sometimes we were near the 
Jordan ; at other times it was necessary to retire some 
distance from the river to get satisfactory riding. 

54 






STILLING ST0kM6. 

The oleander in full bloom presented a beautiful 
sight. Tiberias, twelve miles from our starting-point 
that morning, was our destination. Six miles of our 
journey was along the winding Jordan, and six along 
the western shore of the Sea. 

When we reached the Sea we rode steadily on 
without halting until we came to the hot springs of 
Tiberias. Here the water of the springs had a tem- 
perature of 144°F. and a bitterness similar to waters 
in other volcanic regions. Where it issued from the 
ground a cloud of vapor rose although the weather 
was hot. The Emperor Tiberias sought bathing here 
for healing and invigorating purposes, it is said. 
And similar use is made of the springs to-day on a 
small scale. My dragoman hurriedly sought to take 
a bath that he might get rid of the vermin gotten the 
night before. In order to get rid of the vermin he not 
only bathed, but he also threw away what he said 
was a good suit of underclothing. 

Then we ride on northward over ruins of ancient 
cities and graves of age-long dead, and look upon 
the tomb-hollowed cliffs to our left, while playing 
upon the pebbly shore to our right the waves con- 
tinually chant requiems for those who were, but are 
not. In a little while we reach the town of Tiberias, 
the only town of repute to-day on the shore of the 
Sea. Numerous cities once stood here, but now even 
the ruins of some can scarcely be identified. And 
while Tiberias evidently existed in the time of Christ 
there is no mention of it by name in the New Testa- 
ment. Though it is strictly a Jewish town of about 

55 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

six thousand inhabitants Christian Missions are 
operated with success within it. 

Following the western shore on northward we come 
to a few rude huts said to mark the location of the 
town of Magdala, made lasting in the world's record 
of true fame by its being the home of the Mary who 
in the simplicity of her love and faith followed Jesus, 
and to whom he appeared first of all after his resur- 
rection. It is on the border of Gennesaret, the little 
plain to the northwest of the Lake. 

Next we reach the sites of Chorazin and Bethsaida 
in this plain that is now covered with a rank growth 
of reed and oleander. Passing on around the rocky 
margin of the Lake, Khan Minyeh is before us; here 
it is now believed that Capernaum stood. On farther 
is the inflowing Jordan, and the site of another Beth- 
saida, then the region of the feeding of the five thou- 
sand. Passing south along the narrow eastern shore- 
plain, the bluff is reached over which the devil- 
inhabited swine rushed to their drowning. South of 
this point nothing of special Bible interest seems to 
have occurred along the seashore. And, in thought, 
we are again in Tiberias, where the hotel accommo- 
dation is fairly good. 

Everybody who visits this place is pleased with 
the generally peaceful aspect of the Lake. The Sea 
being only twelve and a-half miles long and seven 
miles wide, the whole of it can be seen at a glance; 
and the hills and mountains on all sides are in plain 
view, — the water at times like a pool of sapphire in 
a mountain-rimmed basin of changing hue. 

56 



STILLING STORMS. 

But while every one wants to take a sail on the 
Sea, no one is guaranteed in advance that satisfying 
experience. "Weather permitting", is the proviso 
contained in all propositions relative thereto. 

Early one morning my dragoman and I went down 
to the shore to engage a little boat for a sail on the 
sacred Sea of Galilee. The morning was fair — one 
of the kind in which one breathes in thankfulness 
that he is alive. To our question as to the prospects 
for a good day, they only said, "It is a fine morning". 
The weather here is very changeable, and often the 
change is very sudden. The temperature at the 
Lake is semi-tropical; up in the mountains it is cold. 
The cold air from the higher altitudes sometimes 
rushes down the deep wadies leading to the Sea in 
unexpected suddenness, lashing the waters until in 
its fury shipping is much endangered. So the boat- 
men prepare for what may happen. The few boats 
now on the Lake are strongly built. Our boat was 
manned by four men. They had a sail to hoist in 
case there was not too little or too much wind. 

Then we started, — and in two hours we had crossed 
northward to Capernaum. Here we landed. After 
inspecting the "tomb of Nahum", on the hill just 
above our landing-place, I gave attention to the ruins 
of the synagogue where I think the man with the 
withered hand was healed; then I noted more care- 
fully the reputed site of the ancient town that shel- 
tered the Man of Sorrows after his own people of 
Nazareth rejected him. Here his gracious presence 
was a light to them that "sit in darkness" and in the 

57 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

"region of the shadow of death". To this place sick, 
maimed and blind ones were brought, and he "healed 
them all", and the storms that swept the souls of 
the solicitous, despairing ones with howling mockery 
at their futile attempts to heal, became as soft winds 
singing sweet soothing strains of peace. Yes, at the 
word and touch of Jesus, came relief to the sufferer 
and consolingly restful peace to the solicitous friends. 

To-day there stands on the traditional site of 
Capernaum a Catholic institution with well-kept gar- 
dens of roses, in bloom at the time of my visit. 
Then, after our lingering here, we move back toward 
Tiberias, keeping nearer the shore than on our out- 
ward trip — passing close to the few ruins of Beth- 
saida and Magdala. And when I reach my starting- 
point I feel satisfied that I have crossed where His 
voice was heard over the waters and maybe just 
where he actually planted his feet on the billows of 
the deep. And sweet is the thrill induced by the 
thought that, figuratively speaking, the blood in his 
steps here, in sacrifice for his own, would not only 
color the waters of this sea, but that the blood of his 
life would make the whole world incarnadine, that it 
might save all men, by its being applied to secure 
similar service from all. 

My Sunday on the shore of this Sea is one long 
to be remembered. The rest was so peaceful after 
my hard experiences in Gilead. A drill of the 
Turkish soldiers at the barracks hard by was an un- 
expected and novel sight. (It was not Sunday to 
them; our Friday is the Mohammedan Sunday.) 

58 



STILLING STORMS. 

Then the vesper service in the Free Church of Scot- 
land mission — held in a house right on the shore 
of the Lake where the lapping of the water could be 
heard — in which the minister spoke feelingly on the 
text } "Blessed are the peacemakers", was impressive. 
These words the Master uttered just a few miles over 
the hill from where I sat in the service; He had 
made peace in the lives of scores of busy, hurrying 
people that once lived here. And here he command- 
ed and secured peace in the stubborn warring ele- 
ments. Ah, yes, He was the King of Peace, — and 
here by blue Galilee he lived for a time and exer- 
cised his mild but imperial power. I was in the 
service, but I seemed to live in another age. 

In the dreamy after-glow of that evening I sat 
and tried to see. But on Galilee the stage is empty; 
the actors have* passed behind the scenes and are 
gone forever from this region. My heart is heavy 
that at my call the past cannot come back to me. 
But when I look out over this Sea, now flooded with 
mellow moonlight, and when gentle fragrant zephyrs 
fan about me as though wafted from an angel's 
pinion, I feel caught up on the wings of imagination 
and carried quickly back, back, through the centuries 
to look again at this place. Wondrous change ! The 
people are back again from their long sleep. The 
villages, restored, swarm with a busy populace. A 
hundred fishing vessels are on the sea. In the tremor 
of excitement that hangs over every home I learn 
that the Great Teacher is here. And in the happy 
faces of all I read that his words give peace and his 

59 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

touch healing. A little later, in fancy, I see a small 
boat push out over the placid blue waters to pass to 
the other side; and while I watch, the unexpected 
storm has come! In the terrible tempest there is 
surely no hope! But, see! The Wonder-worker is 
now visible on the boat, — he has been sleeping, but 
is now risen. Listen! what are those words? I hear 
them well — "Peace, be still". And immediately 
there is a great calm — the howling winds have be- 
come as gentle refreshing summer zephyrs, and the 
angry foaming sea like glass. Again, I see this same 
Master of earth and sea and sky come to his own, 
treading in safety on the waves; and, as I watch, my 
heart melts at the thought of the tender solicitude of 
the Great One for his fainting, helpless disciples. 
And then I hear his sweet words of assurance that no 
sea of trouble can keep him from me, if I want him ; 
and that no storm of trial in my life can be so severe 
but that he can still it, if I will call on him. Be- 
lieving this, the century of my generation is as 
favorable for a good life as the one in which I have 
been living in imagination for the last few minutes, 
and I am happy to return again to it. 

But even now, when out of a busy life I can snatch 
a few moments for revery, I find myself again seated 
on the shore of this same sacred Sea, and my heart 
feels the spell. 



60 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet 
from thei midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; 
unto him ye shall hearken." — Deuteronomy 18:15. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And behold, there talked with him two men, who were 
Moses and Elijah; who appeared in glory, and spake of 
his decease which he was about to accomplish at Jeru- 
salem." — Luke 9:30,31. 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 

(On the Mountain.) 

CHAPTER VII. 

IT is probably true that only once in Christ's min- 
istry did he cross the recognized boundaries of 
his home-land; but that once called out a teach- 
ing that brings sweet comfort to all in whose veins 
there flows not the blood of the Hebrew race. For, 
while he said positively to the woman at the well 
that salvation is of the Jews — a truth that none can 
deny as to its origin — he here showed that though it 
is of the Jews in its origin, it is for the whole world 
in its efficacy and intent. 

The trip abroad to which reference has been made 
is the short journey to Phoenicia, lying to the north- 
west of his adopted home of Capernaum. On reach- 
ing the country of Tyre and Sidon, he sought seclu- 
sion, but "he could not be hid". His fame had pre- 
ceded him. He was known as the Great Physician. 
And since he had healed many "incurables" else- 
where, the suffering in this land wanted to know 
him, and their desire, their quiet longing for him, 
was doubtless the call that brought him to Phoenicia. 
No, he could not be hid in the days of his Incar- 

61 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

nation; and now much more is he nigh to those who 
are in trouble. And in suffering sympathy with suf- 
fering ones he will break no "bruised reed"; he will 
quench no "smoking flax". No, he will heal, and 
he will give joy. 

A woman hearing of his presence in her country 
hurried to him and begged him to help her; — not 
that she was sick, but because her daughter was in 
sad state. And so close is any true mother's heart 
joined to her child's that the anguish of the child is 
likewise the anguish of the mother. It was so here. 
This mother knew no hope save it came from him at 
whose feet she knelt. He tried her faith in language 
that seems half harsh to us; but she only pressed 
the case the more eagerly, for he did not deny his 
power, and she knew that the record of his life was 
philanthropy, and a philanthropist cannot in the na- 
ture of things turn from the cry of a troubled heart. 
The apparent denial of her request was only as a veil 
of mist momentarily obscuring the great sun. She 
saw behind the mist the brightness of Him in whom 
there is "no variableness, neither shadow of turn- 
ing". She knew that in Palestine he was the Friend 
of sorrowing ones. Then being unchangeable, he 
must be the Friend of the world's heart-broken. 
Logically it followed that she could cry, with reason- 
able expectation that her cry would be answered, 
"Lord, help me!" 

The result of it all was that he commended her 
faith as above that found among his own people; 
and he helped her, by healing her child. 

62 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 

Returning to his own country he healed a deaf and 
dumb man, fed the four thousand, and at Bethsaida 
gave sight to a blind man. 

Then with his disciples he moved north, and be- 
fore returning reached his farthest north limit of 
traveling, and there came to him there an unusual 
'experience in his ministry, and an unusual event in 
the history of the world. 

He stopped at Caesarea Philippi for rest and 
prayer. Then in a confidential conversation he ques- 
tioned the disciples concerning himself. He wanted 
to know from them (he already knew in himself), 
what the people were saying about him — how they 
'explained the wonders of his ministry. And he also 
wanted a personal opinion concerning himself from 
them as his pupils. It was time that the pupil should 
put a proper estimate upon the character of his 
teacher. No doubt the disciples had all pondered this 
matter secretly in their hearts as they lay quietly 
looking up at the stars after some day filled with 
gracious teachings and wonderful doings by their 
Master. No doubt they had talked it over among 
themselves and had come to a unanimous conclusion. 
But in the decorum of the sacred council it is well 
that but one should tell the conclusion reached by 
them all; and the natural leader speaks for all this 
first expressed creed of the Apostles — "Thou art the 
Christ, the Son of the living God". This confession 
of faith brought forth the highest commendation from 
Jesus. And is it not enough for any creed? May 
it not be possible that in adding thereto many phrases 

63 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

to form a creed some have been hindered from iden- 
tifying themselves with the body of believers? And 
could not all believers unite on this Apostles' creed? 
This must be accepted, whatever else may be omitted. 
Is it not enough for one to throw his whole life into 
the confession and say to Jesus, "I believe that thou 
art the Son of God"? I much fear that the sim- 
plicity of Christ's life and teaching has in many cases 
been made obscure by requiring the acceptance of 
non-essentials, thereby killing the Spirit that is 
meant to give light and life. How simple, yet how 
soul-transforming, the faith that can say, "I believe 
that ithou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
God"! 

He gave them to understand that they did not err 
in their opinion of him; and then he charged them 
"that they should tell no man that he was the Christ". 

After six more days together nine of the number, 
it seems, remain here and talk and make plans con- 
cerning the new kingdom in such manner as indi- 
cates that, though they now knew for a certainty that 
Jesus was the Christ, they were in error as to the 
real nature of the kingdom that he came to establish. 
But Jesus and three of his pupils — Peter, James and 
John — pick their way up the side of the near-by 
mountain. 

Why were not the Nine taken along? Possibly 
because the revelations to be given were of such 
significance that only the three were able to bear 
them. He who knows the hearts of men knew no 
doubt that the presence of the others on this occasion 

64 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 

would not be conducive to the best interests of his 
kingdom. 

It is now generally believed that the event that 
I am about to describe occurred at some place on 
Mount Hermon, the high culminating peak at the 
southern end of the range of mountains known as 
Anti-Lebanon. It is a familiar land-mark from many 
miles around. The purpose of these four on the 
mountain is definitely stated, — it was that apart by 
themselves they might pray. And while He prayed 
the usual human appearance of his flesh was changed 
to a glorious radiancy and his garments became 
immaculately white without any taint of the carnal 
upon them. For a little while the earthy of his 
humiliated existence seemed burned away, and the 
divinity of his nature shone forth unobscured. And 
why this change? He was about to receive an em- 
bassy composed of two of the greatest characters 
that had ever lived on earth, one of whom, Moses, had 
been dead for nearly fifteen hundred years, and the 
other of whom, Elijah, had been dead for nearly 
nine hundred years. The visitors were celestial, 
hence the transfiguration seems a necessary prepa- 
ration in appearance for the reception of those who 
had long ceased to live the terrestrial life. 

It seems quite a coincidence and quite fitting that 
Moses, the giver of the Law, and Elijah, the great 
prophet-defender of that Law, — the Law that was 
the schoolmaster to lead men to Christ, — should now 
come to see Him who was the fulfillment of all 
their prophetic hope. 

65 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

The subject of their conversation was "his decease 
which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem". 
Why were they concerned about it? For the same 
reason that we are concerned. For that death was 
to be the propitiation for all men, of all times. It 
meant eternal safety for Moses and Elijah. Then is 
it any wonder that he of the hidden-grave and he 
of the chariot-exit should be anxious about it? And 
do you not think that they encouraged him for the 
ordeal ? 

And Peter and James and John saw the visitors, 
and it seems recognized them without introduction; 
and when the two were leaving Christ, the disci- 
ples, through their spokesman, said that they were 
very happy; and they wanted to make provision for 
tarrying longer at that sacred spot by building booths 
for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. 

Then came the climax of mountain-experiences — 
a bright cloud settled down over them, and they 
were "sore afraid". Peter had scarcely finished 
speaking when a voice indescribably sweet and with 
no wavering of uncertainty in its musical tones, gen- 
tle as the evening breeze but powerful as the storm, 
was heard saying, "This is my beloved Son, my 
chosen, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye him". 
The effect upon the disciples was wonderful — they 
lay upon their faces trembling with fear. But Jesus 
touched them, and having assured them that there 
was no need to fear, they arose and, looking about, 
"saw no man, save Jesus only". Then he charged 
them not to speak to any man of the things that 

66 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 

they had seen and heard until after his resurrection. 

Just why Jesus made this request of the disciples 
I am not able to say; but possibly it was through 
fear of a violent interruption of the orderly develop- 
ment of his kingdom. For it must not be forgotten, 
that though Jesus had power to lay down his life 
or to save it, that his mission among men was to 
prepare men through natural agencies through years 
of discipline, and to establish them in the faith with 
infallible proofs of his divinity, for the time when 
he must leave them. He was ready to go at any 
time, but he knew that the disciples were not yet 
ready to carry on the work that must be committed 
to them upon his return to his Father. Hence I 
think that in this instance, as on several other oc- 
casions, he desired that his work be not spoken of 
so that he might uninterruptedly continue his teach- 
ing and training of the Apostles for their great work. 

They teach under his direction, they perform 
miracles according to his word. They witness his 
manner of dealing with men, — surprised sometimes 
at his silence, and sometimes almost rebuking him 
for his freedom of speech with certain persons, and 
almost angered sometimes when he crosses the tradi- 
tions of his race by associating with the ceremonially 
unclean. 

And they witnessed his Passion, and saw him 
alive again after he was dead. From him they 
received their commission, and then with the unction 
of the Spirit they went forth to conquer the world. 
And all this was the result of nature's plan to make 

67 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 



strong — by orderly development. Had Jesus per- 
mitted himself to fall into the hands of those who 
early sought to take his life, no man or set of men 
would have been strong enough to take up and con- 
tinue his work. But when in the fullness of time, 
when his pupils were well taught, when the day of 
their graduation arrived, then they were ready to 
carry on the work. 

The Commencement Exercises of the School of 
the Apostles were fraught with tragedy. But when 
each pupil received his diploma from his Teacher 
it was in language already familiar to him. and 
might be read in words like these : 




KNOW ALL MEN BY THESE PRESENTS: 

THIS is to certify that the bearer of this 
DIPLOMA has been a constant and faithful 
student of mine, ministering to me and suffer- 
ing with me and for me. and that he has sub- 
scribed to a willingness to "deny himself and 
to take up his cross daily and to follow me". 
Therefore I commend this pupil of mine as a 
capable teacher of MY WILL concerning the 
lost. And this commendation I gladly sign in 
the blood of my own life, voluntarily given 
to save all men. 

In the love of the Father. 

Given at JESUS of XAZARETH. 

Jerusalem on the 

BIRTH -DAY of the Race. 



t 



68 



i 



■**u 



THE VOICE IN THE BRIGHT CLOUD. 

And while the majority of people can never secure 
a title or diploma from any college founded and 
controlled by men, the Greatest of all teachers will 
gladly bestow certificates of distinction upon all who 
will enroll in His School and learn of Him. College 
diplomas pass current among men with varying de- 
grees of regarded merit. But His diploma will se- 
cure the respect of all men, and in recognition of 
it angels will bow and the Father will be pleased. 

These disciples no doubt had often heard of the 
Dove and the Voice at the Jordan, but here on the 
mountain they saw the bright cloud and heard the 
Voice for themselves. 

Then the Four came down from the mountain 
looking not very different from what their appear- 
ance was before they left the Nine to make the 
ascent. But oh, the experiences that now lay hid- 
den in their lives! And thus it often is that His 
disciple of to-day leaves his place of business in the 
evening, in the night he sees the transfigured Christ, 
and next morning he returns to his work looking 
scarcely different from his appearance the day be- 
fore. Yet new experiences are in his life, and they 
are of inestimable value in strengthening him for 
the necessary service of sacrifice that every true 
man must render. 

When the Four reached the disciples that were 
left at, or near, Caesarea Philippi, they found "a 
great multitude about them, and scribes questioning 
with them". An epileptic child had been brought 
to them, but none of the Nine could heal him; (and 

69 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

may not this fact have been stated here to show that 
the Nine were not prepared for the wonderful revela- 
tions on the mount ?) ; so when Jesus was seem they 
brought the child to him, and he healed him. Then 
"he taught his disciples, and said unto them, 'Let 
these words sink into your ears. The Son of Man 
is delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall 
kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he 
shall rise again' ". To us it seems plain teaching, 
but the disciples did not understand it. "It was 
concealed from them that they should not perceive 
it". But "they were exceeding sorry". 

Then he went again to Capernaum; and the dis- 
ciples followed him with bowed heads and heavy 
hearts. 



70 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body 
shall they arise." — Isaiah 26:19. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"Jesus said unto her, 'I am the resurrection, and the 
life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he 
live: and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall 
never die."— John 11:25, 26. 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY. 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY. 
(At Bethany.) 

CHAPTER VIII. 

AT Capernaum Jesus continued his teaching 
and work of ministry. Among the impor- 
tant lessons that he here taught were, that 
it was right to pay taxes; that greatness was possi- 
ble only through humbleness, even as a little child; 
and that forgiveness is a duty without regard to any 
fixed number of trespasses. 

Then he went to Jerusalem to attend the Feast of 
Tabernacles. On the way a Samaritan village would 
not receive him because he was going to a Feast 
at Jerusalem. This angered James and John and 
they wanted permission to call down fire from heaven 
to consume the people; but Jesus rebuked them, and 
they all turned aside to rest in another village. 

Moving on toward Jerusalem, he revealed to a 
young man who seemed anxious to accompany him 
as a disciple that he had nowhere to lay his head, 
and that the Master's lot must be shared by the dis- 
ciple. It is not stated whether the young man fol- 
lowed or turned back. 

At Jerusalem the Jews sought to take him, but he 

71 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

went boldly into the Temple and taught, — and why 
should he not teach in his own house! Then as a 
beautiful climax to his teaching this time in the city 
he declared himself to be the Light of the World. 
And it seems that shortly thereafter he commissioned 
seventy men to go forth to prepare the people for 
his coming. And I think I hear their simple mes- 
sage as they pass from city to city and from com- 
munity to community. It is, "Jesus of Nazareth is 
coming this way! Make haste, and prepare your 
hearts to receive your King!" And to be the glad 
recipient of such message is only next in honor to 
proclaiming it. 

Next we find Jesus at Bethany, a little village 
nestling cosily in a depression of the east slope 
of Olivet, nearly two miles from Jerusalem. The 
houses of Bethany to-day are like all other houses 
throughout Palestine — not very inviting in appear- 
ance, either for comfort or cleanliness. The streets 
are scarcely worthy the name. The children and 
women are not above the average in this land in 
features or care of the person, — we might well call 
them neglected poor — neglected by government, and 
that neglect doggedly accepted, and then further em- 
phasized by se//-neglect. This is the impression that 
came to me in most of the villages through which 
1 passed. But you ask, "How about the country 
people?" There are no country people; they all live 
in villages. In all my wanderings in Palestine, I saw 
not a single isolated dwelling. In ancient and 
mediaeval times it was not safe for a man to live 

72 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY, 

away from his fellows; and to-day it is not advisable 
because of predatory conditions still existing. 

Bethany is on the Jericho road, but in passing from 
Jerusalem along this road you are not aware of the 
presence of the town until rounding a turn to the 
left the view bursts suddenly upon you — you are 
almost there. And in coming up from Jericho you 
pass over a rise of ground and at the same time 
turn to the right, and scarcely more than a hundred 
yards away, on the upper side of the road, is the 
village in its little amphitheater in the hill-side. 
And what wonderful events took place here with 
nature's rock for stage and with Olive, Almond 
and Fig tree to furnish the stage setting and 
scenery ! 

The modern name is El Lazariah — 'the town of 
Lazarus — so named because of the well-authenticated 
tradition of its occupying the site of the home and 
tomb of that good man. Though the present village 
has little to commend it, "all its associations with 
the faraway past are tender, sacred and sublime". 
Here was the home of Mary and Martha and their 
brother, — a home which is a beautiful type of what 
the Christian home in all ages should be, — a home 
in which we see household cares well looked after, 
especially by Miartha; in which we see Jesus well 
cared for by studying his personality and loving his 
mission, as seen in Miary's sitting at his feet, a hum- 
ble loving learner; and in which we see the Saviour's 
love for it in the tender reference made concerning 
Lazarus, (he being spoken of as one whom Jesus 

73 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

loved), and at whose decease he wept. Had it not 
been for this home, doubtless long ago the very name 
of the village would have been lost in unrememfoered 
nothingness. 

After this first reported visit to Bethany, in which 
Jesus commended Mary for her interest in his teach- 
ing and life, and did not, as I understand it, rebuke 
Martha, it seems that he and his disciples went about 
in Judea and especially at Jerusalem teaching the 
gospel of the kingdom. Then he went again "beyond 
Jordan into the place where John was at the first 
baptizing; and there he abode". John the Baptist 
was dead, but the people still remembered his testi- 
mony. And when Jesus had been with them a little 
while, they said, "all things whatsoever John spake 
of this man were true". 

While in Perea he healed a woman in a syna- 
gogue; uttered a sad lamentation over Jerusalem; 
dined with a Pharisee; told plainly the cost of dis- 
cipleship; taught the parables of The Invited Guests, 
The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Lost Boy — 
(The Prodigal Son) ; and told of The Unjust Steward, 
and of the Rich Man and Lazarus — (not the Lazarus 
of Bethany). 

And then while the gracious work was in progress 
in Perea, one day a messenger was seen approaching 
in unusual haste; and scarcely had the proper salu- 
tation been given, — and I think even before the 
water had been brought to bathe the dusty bruised 
feet of the weary one, — he gave forth in sad cry his 
message, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is 

74 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY. 

sick" ! He had come all the way from Bethany, and 
the message that he bore was from the Mary and 
Martha whom we already know, and the sick one was 
their brother, Lazarus. 

Jesus received the message calmly, and said, "This 
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, 
that the Son of God may be glorified thereby". Did 
he seem indifferent? To divinity the outcome of 
the sickness of no good man is death, — and what- 
ever the outcome, it glorifies God. Oh, suffering 
one, whom Jesus loves as he loved Lazarus, can 
you not believe this? If you can believe it, then 
sickness 'has lost its loathsomeness, and prospective 
human death has lost its sting. 

Jesus tarried yet two days where he was, and then 
said, "Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep; but I go 
that I may awake him out of his sleep". Let us now 
return to Bethany to watch for his coming. 

The ascent from Jericho is quite steep. Though 
there were only myself, dragoman and driver in the 
carriage we had three horses, abreast, to the vehicle; 
and even then we walked up some of the steepest 
of the hills. After ascending the first hill I pluck a 
few Jericho roses — (a small dead-looking plant of a 
dull grayish color and only an inch or two high) — 
and to-day, after the passing of several seasons, they 
open for me within three minutes after I place them 
in water. 

Next I pass the traditional Inn of the Good Samari- 
tan, and then on over a succession of sterile hills 
and desolate depressions until the Apostles' Fountain 

75 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

is reached. Here the driver says he must wait until 
the horses are. rested and until he can "rub them 
down" to remove the appearance of having driven 
them too rapidly. 

While I waited, a few girls, barefooted and each 
bearing a large bundle of thorn bushes — bundles 
almost hiding the girls — came trudging in from a 
near-by ravine where they had gathered them, and 
laying down their burdens, they hurried to the foun- 
tain, and, standing in the pool, they splashed water 
over their bruised and scratched limbs, and drank, 
seemingly happy that they could carry this poor fuel 
home to their miserable quarters to be used in an 
indifferent manner in cooking their unpalatable food. 

The driver not yet being ready, I beg permission 
to walk on ahead, and it is granted me on condition 
that I do not get beyond the range of their vision. 
Then alone I climb the hill. I keep on walking until 
I have reached the summit just east of Bethany, and, 
having inspected a cavern-stable for sheep and goats, 
I move a few yards farther and am then in plain 
view of the town, the first to be seen after leaving 
Jericho, and the only one between the last named 
place and Jerusalem. Here I seat myself and try 
to see the succession of events transpiring after the 
messenger had been hurried past the very spot where 
I sit to find Jesus. 

Then I watch the tender ministrations for the sick 
one. The oase becomes exceedingly critical. It is 
time for Jesus to come, 'and I see one hurrying out 
to look down the road toward Jericho, — and I find 

76 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY. 

myself almost involuntarily looking also down that 
road. Will he not come? Then the shadows of 
what they think to be a long night begin to darken 
and drape the joys of the hearts of that home. 
Finally in the hush of that solemn hour the watchers 
give out the grief-freighted words, "He is dead". 
And as his eyes close to his loved and loving ones, 
and his lips and cheeks blanch, and the warm touch 
of his hand vanishes, leaving instead an icy chill, I 
seem to hear the long-drawn-out sighs of that death- 
chamber borne to me out of the shadowy past; and 
through the gathering mist in my eyes I see come 
again and again to the turn of the road where I sit 
a lonely broken-hearted woman to look down the 
rugged hillside along the path leading from Jericho. 
But still He comes not. Oh, heart-crushing delay! 

And then I see them bear the still form of Lazarus 
to the tomb. And I see the sad sisters, even on the 
way to the grave, look through tear-filled eyes in vain 
for the coming of Jesus. Then they buried that lov- 
ing brother; and two sisters stood to mourn at the 
gate of a windowless, locked palace that never yet 
opened at the cry of human despair. Back to their 
empty home they go to sit in the shadow of death, 
and to take up again the work of life with heavy 
bleeding hearts. 

But, a few days later one came running to the 
house of mourning telling the joyful news that Jebus 
had been seen climbing the hill and was now ap- 
proaching the village. Mary in her grief seems not 
to have heard the news, but Martha heard, and hurry- 

77 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

ing forth she met Jesus, I think, just about where I 
sit, — or at least one seated here could have heard 
their conversation. 

It is a brief interview, but hope springs up in the 
heart of disconsolate Martha, — vague hope, maybe, 
but still it is hope. She hurries to tell Mary; but 
Jesus remains near where I sit. Oh, Man of Sor- 
rows, I heard you say just now, "Thy brother shall 
rise again"; and while you gave hope to heavy- 
hearted Miartha you also brought cheer and heart- 
song to me in the midst of remembered bitter, blind- 
ing tears before my own dead. I thank you for the 
sweet consolation of your words to Martha, for in 
your words to her there came to me a sweeter solace, 
a more emphatic assurance than ever came to me as 
tihe result of years of research for the teaching of 
History, Science and Philosophy! 

Then the three followed by many Jews, (who had 
followed Mary after the call of Martha), go to the 
tomb where they buried Lazarus, and where he has 
already lain for four days. Let us follow them. 

And first let us look at the traditional tomb of 
Lazarus as it is to-day. When under the care of my 
dragoman I left my seat by the roadside, it was not 
long until the custodian of the tomb that we were 
seeking was found. He led us to a back street, or 
alley, and there threw open a door in a stone wall 
for us to enter. Then stepping in, we immediately 
began descending into the rocky hill. Down twenty- 
five steps of stone we found a chamber about twelve 
feet long, ten feet wide and eight feet high, (dimen- 

78 



A GLORY-CROWNED DELAY. 

sions are given from memory, and may vary a few 
feet in any one), in the floor of which was a grave, 
said to be the one in which Lazarus lay when Jesus 
and his sisters and Jews stood about the door of his 
place of sepulture. (The tradition does not strongly 
appeal to me.) 

Returning to the story. We see here the Wonder- 
worker trembling and the light of his eyes is dimmed 
by tears. But commanding that the stone be rolled 
from the door of the cave, he prayed, and then he 
said in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And 
he that was dead came up out of the tomb to meet 
his Lord; and then he walked home a strong man 
along the path over which he had been carried four 
days before 'midst wailings of despair. And there 
was joy in the home of Mary and Miartha. And there 
was joy in Bethany. And because of the delay there 
is joy in the whole world. 

In the home of Jairus we saw His power to raise 
the recent dead; at Nain we saw His power to raise 
one longer dead and to turn a funeral procession into 
a march of triumph; and now we see, because of 
his delay in coming to Bethany, his power to invade 
the chill destructive prison of the decaying corpse 
and bring back the supposedly forever dead. And 
because of his delay here we get a teaching that 
never elsewhere came so sweet, and that has rain- 
bowed the storm-swept and grief-stricken of every 
succeeding generation, when he said on the path to 
the grave of Lazarus, "I am the resurrection and the 
life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall 

79 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth on me 
shall never die". Yes, this delay was crowned with 
glory, and in that glory is hope and light and life 
forever more. 



80 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the 
heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how 
much less this house that I have builded?" — I Kings 8:27. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"But I say unto you, that one greater than the temple 
is here."— Matthew 12:6. 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 




THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

(At Jerusalem.) 

CHAPTER IX. 

HE chief priests therefore and the Pharisees 
gathered a council, and said, 'What do 
we? for this man doeth many signs. If 
we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: 
and the Romans will come and take away both our 
place and our nation'. But a certain one of them, 
Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said unto them, 
Te know nothing at all, nor do ye take account that 
it is expedient for you that one man should die for 
the people, and that the whole nation perish not'." 
"So from that day forth they took counsel that they 
might put him to death." 

And thus with storm-center at Jerusalem the 
echoes came back in low and ominous mutterings 
from other parts of the land. Jesus apparently elud- 
ing his enemies went north into one of the villages 
of Ephraim. 

Then while skirting Samaria and Galilee he was 
met by ten lepers, — the ten were healed ; ten rejoiced 
in their healing; one only returned to give thanks to 

81 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

his benefactor. Entering Galilee, he somewhere 
taught the parables of The Unjust Judge, and The 
Pharisee and the Publican. Then he left Galilee to 
return no more to teach and to heal the sick, — save 
to appear for a little while after the overcome storm 
that had swept him to the grave. 

Passing into Perea for the last time he gave the 
teaching that in marriage two become one flesh, and 
said, "What God hath joined together let not man 
put asunder". Thus he sanctified the marriage 
institution. 

Later he welcomed little children that were 
brought to Him, saying, "Whosoever shall not re- 
ceive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall 
in no wise enter therein". And in this saying he 
rebuked the disciples, (who had rebuked the persons 
who had brought the children), and gave reason for 
gladness to countless thousands of homes out from 
which little ones have gone, leaving only visible gar- 
ments as treasure-memorials and the merry voice of 
infant prattle to linger in the empty dreams about 
cheerless hearths. 

Oh, rebellious grieving parent, be soothed, for 
your little absent child is safe. And if you learned 
the lesson it was here to teach, and if you 
have become like it in the essential traits of 
child-life, you too are safe. And though the little 
one cannot come back to your home and to the 
treasured toys sacredly kept in memory of it, yet 
through this precious teaching of Jesus you are 

82 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

enabled to use with greatest assurance the im- 
mortal words of David in his great grief, — "I 
oan go to it". 

It was doubtless in Perea that the rich young ruler 
came to Jesus and called him "good Master", and 
then asked what good thing he should do that he 
might have eternal life. Note the reply. Some in 
reading it erroneously say that here Jesus denies 
his divinity. But such do not by any means 
read a-right. Jesus said, "Why call est thou me 
good? One there is who is good, even God." 
He tested the faith of the young man by his 
question. The young man had called him "good". 
Jesus asked him why he had so called him. Now 
read again the question, "Why callest thou me good", 
placing the emphasis on the word "why". Is the 
teaching not clear? It is as though Jesus had said, 
"There is only one absolutely good person in the 
universe, and that is God; is it because you recog- 
nized me as God that you called me 'good'?" And 
then he taught him what to do. 

Other things he taught in Perea and then, leaving 
that land for the last time, he proceeded toward 
Jerusalem. On the way we see him at Jericho, where 
he healed a blind man, and later lodged with Zac- 
cheus. Here he also taught the parable of the Pounds. 
Then he went on up to Jerusalem, the storm-center 
of opposition. 

It was the season of the Passover and a multitude 
had already reached the city. They were anxious to 

83 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

see Jesus of whom they had heard so much; but "the 
chief priests and the Pharisees had given command- 
ment that, if any man knew where he was, he should 
show it, that they might take him*'. 

And while we wait for the coming of Jesus let us 
note a few things concerning the city, — but especially 
concerning the Temple area, as it is to-day. A 
careful description of Jerusalem would require 
a volume in itself. So it is more to my purpose 
to confine my present description to a portion of 
the southeast corner of the city, known as the 
Haram. 

The area embraced within the walls of modern 
Jerusalem is two hundred and ten acres, while in the 
Haram, (which is included in the above), there are 
thirty-five acres. The east and the south wall of 
the city are also formidable bounding walls of the 
Haram . 

Permission to see the Haram is secured only 
through the consulate of your own country: and you 
enter under the escort of a soldier and the guardian- 
ship of one or two of the Islam faith. But as soon as 
you pass within the enclosure you note a remarkable 
transition — here there is the hush and quiet of a 
country Sabbath. At the northern end of the Haram 
is Pilate's palace: near the southern end is the 
Mosque of Omar; and at the southern end is the 
Mosque of El Aksa. A considerable portion of the 
area is paved with large flat stones underneath 
which are capacious cisterns. Under another por- 

84 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

tion are the so-called "Stables of Solomon". 
Much of the space is sod-covered where dainty 
wild flowers are found in rich profusion. Some 
Cypress trees of uncertain age are also found 
here. 

The most interesting object within the enclosure is 
the octagonal structure known as the Mosque of 
Omar, Which stands, it is believed, where once stood 
the Temple in all its glory. And though this Moham- 
medan structure is here, it is not to give honor to 
Him who was "greater than the Temple", but rather 
to revere the memory and work of Abraham. And it 
must not be forgotten that Abraham was the progeni- 
tor of the Arabians, (and Mohammed was an Ara- 
bian), through his son Ishmael, as was he also the 
progenitor of the Jews, (and Jesus was a Jew), 
through his son Isaac. So it is seen that Jesus and 
Mohammed were both descendants of Abraham, and, 
with tribal relation in thought, we may say that they 
were cousins. 

In the floor of this Mosque is a great rock, with 
railing all about it, believed by Mohammedans to be 
the place of Abraham's offering of Isaac, and by 
Christians to be the possible resting-place of the Ark 
in the Temple. Still other views are held; but in 
the absence of certainty on any point let us rest in 
the knowledge that here where we now stand were 
heard the voices of Melchizedek, David, Solomon, 
Hezekiah and Jesus. 

Of course, before passing through this Mosque, *• 

85 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

well as all other mosques, the visitor must either 
remove his shoes or place slippers of large size over 
his shoes. And a man accompanies to see that the 
slippers are worn, and. should one fall off. to see 
that it is immediately replaced. 

And here, where now is this quiet Haram, Jesus 
taught much in the closing days of his ministry. 
Here in the Church of his day. and in the Church- 
men of his race., was the storm-center of dis- 
turbance for Palestine in the days of the Incarna- 
tion. But enough; — He comes! Let us watch for 
him as he comes up out of the deep valley of the 
Jordan. 

On this last trip from the Jordan valley Jesus 
stopped again at Bethany, just six days before the 
Passover. And when the common people of the 
Jews learned that he was at Bethany they came, "'not 
for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see Lazarus 
also, whom he had raised from the dead". Then 
the chief priests immediately counseled also to 
slay Lazarus, because through him many believed 
on Jesus. Thus, when Enmity once thrusts forth 
its serpent head it strikes down all who stand 
as a testimony against its malicious, murderous 
schemes. 

And though the sword of the destroyer is sus- 
pended over the Holy City for him, Jesus prepares 
to enter its gates. Now we see for the first time 
in his ministry the toiling Man of Sorrows mounted 

86 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

to ride. And it is proper for him to ride, for kings 
ride, — 'and Jesus is King; he will enter the city 
a King. 

As he rode up Olivet, "the whole multitude of 
the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with 
a loud voice for all the mighty works which they 
had seen". And then a multitude of those that had 
come to the Feast came out to meet him bearing 
palm branches, and they gave him welcome, saying, 
"Blessed is the King that cometh in the name of the 
Lord" ! Passing just a little higher the view of the 
city burst suddenly upon him. 

The view of modern Jerusalem from this point is 
one of perhaps unrivaled interest. The city with its 
walls, its towers, its churches, its Mosques of Omar 
and El Aksa glitter in the sunlight; and then the 
hills round about, and the back-ground of Judean 
Mountains; — all present a scene of artistic grandeur 
that is worth a pilgrimage of many weary miles to 
see. And when one thinks of the history of 
this city, from Melchizedek down to the present 
and culminating in that awful tragedy on one of 
its eminences, the experience is almost over- 
whelming. 

But I remember that when Christ saw the city 
this time it was even more beautiful than now, for 
then the Temple stood in all its glittering splendor. 
And yet when he saw the city he wept, and said, 
"If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the 
things Which belong unto peace! but now they are 

87 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

hid from thine eyes"! And other things said he in 
tender, touching, sad prophecy. And then he passed 
on down the west slope of Olivet with the multitude 
that ceased not to laud him as King and as one com- 
ing in the name of the Lord. 

The city is stirred, and crowding out through its 
gates and climbing upon its walls, the people asked 
in excited interest, "Who is this?" The answer came 
back from the constantly approaching multitude, 
"This is the prophet. Jesus, from Nazareth of 
Galilee!", an introduction that almost shook the 
strong and deep-laid foundations of that ancient city 
of renown. Ah, that was a triumphal entry that 
Jesus made that day. 

But the chief priests were angry and they rebuked 
him for permitting the children to praise him. In 
reply Jesus said that praise is perfected "out of the 
mouths of babes and sucklings". The praise of earth- 
is only perfect when every voice takes up its part. 
Therefore deny not the children a place in the song- 
singing and praying of God's house or in the song- 
singing and praying of the home. The praise of 
that church in which there are children, the praise 
of the home in which there are children, is not per- 
fect unless the baby-voice is heard. Children who 
are old enough to prattle nonsense and mischief 
should be taught to sing and pray. 

Then there were certain Greeks who wanted to 
see Jesus. They made known their desire to Philip, 
who at the Jordan had introduced Nathaniel to him; 

88 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

and Philip solicited Andrew, who had introduced 
Peter to him; — -and together they took the matter to 
Jesus. Then while a heavy cloud hung over him, 
Jesus said to them, "The hour is come that the Son 
of Mian should be glorified". And a little later he 
cried out, "Father, glorify thy name!" "There came 
therefore a voice, out of heaven, saying 'I have both 
glorified it, and will glorify it again' ". The multi- 
tude heard the voice; some said "It thundered"; but 
it was not thunder. Others said "An angel hath 
spoken to him"; but an angel had not spoken to 
him. It was the voice of God speaking to his 
Son. 

A little later the people began to waver in their 
'faith and silently to forsake him. Things were not 
developing just as they had expected. But Jesus 
continued to teach in the city by day, and every 
night he retired to Bethany for rest in the quiet 
and tranquil home of the beloved Mary and Martha 
and Lazarus. 

Several days passed in which he not only taught 
the people, but in scathing terms of love he de- 
nounced the hollow hypocrisy -of the scribes and 
Pharisees. They were angered and sought the more 
earnestly to kill him. But "the common people 
heard him gladly". 

Then he taught concerning the destruction of the 
Temple and of his coming again; he gave the parable 
of The Ten Virgins, and also of the Talents; he gave 
a most graphic picture of the Last Judgment; and 

89 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

then he retired from the city, passing over Olivet, 
to Bethany for his last earthly rest and sleep. Let 
us linger as watchmen about the tired Master, for 
over in the city many enemies are plotting to take 
his life. 

While there is some difference of opinion as to 
the time that the anointing now to be described 
took place, Matthew and Mark place it here and 
now. So we shall observe it in our elected night- 
watch. 

On this night He will feast with his friends; to- 
morrow night. — but no, let us not lift the veil, — let 
the things of to-morrow wait for to-morrow. Here in 
the house of Simon the Leper, (the traditional ruins 
of the house are still pointed out to the tourist, as is 
also the old foundation of the house of Mary and 
Martha and Lazarus) , Jesus sat to eat — a supper hav- 
ing been made for him. At this supper Martha 
served, and Lazarus sat with Jesus an invited guest. 
What a company! Lazarus, who had lived four days 
on the other side of the gates of death, and Jesus, 
who had called him back and who himself would see 
the sun sink but once more behind the Judean hills 
ere he too would pass into the quiet tomb! Oh, sad 
heart, be still! Think not of ill-freighted to-morrows! 
But the night is chill, and a sense of insecurity 
prevails. 

Look again into the festal chamber. Mary with 
a cruse of ointment, very precious, approaches 
Jesus a* he reclines at the feast, and tenderly and 

90 



THE GATHERING TEMPEST. 

lovingly pours it upon his feet, and with her hair, 
(her "crown of glory"), she gently and reverently 
dries them. Judas Iscariot thought it bad taste and 
sinful waste of precious value. He could have used 
it more becomingly and to better service. He ex- 
pressed his disapproval, and in doing so called forth 
from Jesus the sweetest of commendations — "She 
hath done what she could", and also the assur- 
ance that the story of this loving deed would be 
told wherever would be told the story of h's own 
work. 

Then it seems he rose from the feast, told the dis- 
ciples that only two days remained until the Pass- 
over, and that with the approach of the Passover 
would come the Cross. And then trembling at 
though under a great weight he looked lovingly upon 
Simon who gave him entertainment, upon Lazarus 
whom he raised from the dead, upon Martha who 
had served, upon Mary who had anointed him, upon 
the Twelve Who attended him, and it seems to me 
he turns his sad face toward us who are watching 
about the village, and to all of all generations whose 
eyes turn in loving sympathy toward Bethany; and 
then, with a night-blessing upon all, he passes wearily 
to his chamber, and behind the drapery of his couch 
is soon breathing softly in the gentle slumber of the 
just. Hush! All fowls and beasts, be still; men, 
talk not; children, cry not nor weep this night! Let 
not this last repose of Jesus be rudely broken! And 
yet it seem? that nature experiences unrest; — in the 

91 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

quiet of the night I hear the occasional croaking of 
night-birds; dogs are wailing out cries of despairing 
note; and frequent bleatings come from the sheep- 
pen. But He sleeps. It is his last sleep on earth,— 
let him be undisturbed. 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"Surely he hath bome our griefs, and carried our sor- 
rows: yet we did eeteem him stricken, smitten of God, 
and afflicted." — Isaiah 53:4. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And he was parted from them about a stone's cast; 
and he kneeled down and prayed, saying, 'Father, if thou 
be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not 
my will, but thine, be done.' And there appeared unto 
him an angel from heaven, strengthening him." 

—Luke 22:41-43. 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

(In Gethsemane.) 

CHAPTER X. 

AND while the Master slept there was malicious 
activity among his enemies in the city. The 
chief priests and the elders of the people 
crowded to the court of the high priest and there 
held a council as to how they might accomplish 
their purpose. Of course, Jesus would attend the 
Feast; but the council decided that it would not 
be well to try to take him in public, for there were 
many friends of his at the Feast and division and 
tumult might follow. No, it must be done secretly 
and subtly. This decision reached — that he must 
be taken by treachery — there remained but one thing 
further to be settled; it was, what shall then be done 
with him? He must be killed. (Just then at Bethany 
I think I see an unconscious twitching of muscles 
in the peaceful brow of the sleeper, — and then 
again sweet repose.) 

But though the council had said that he must 
be taken in a subtle manner, they were puzzled as to 
a way by which to do it. And while they talked and 
planned the night wore away. Vexed at their lack 

93 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

of resourceful ability, I think that the members of 
the council were about separating in a state of in- 
decision, when a caller was announced. The in- 
former said that a man wished to speak to the men 
of the council; and he added, "he looks like a fol- 
lower of the Nazarene". 

It seems that while Jesus and the Eleven were 
asleep at Bethany Judas was awake and thinking of 
the events that had occurred in the house of Simon 
the Leper — the anointing by Mary and its commen- 
dation by the Master; and he also inwardly resented 
the rebuke that he himself had received on that 
occasion. And he had heard the Master say that 
in two days he would be crucified. And then again 
I think Judas saw that last look of Jesus as he passed 
to his couch; and it was strangely peculiar and sig- 
nificant that though that look was remembered as 
passionately tender, yet it stirred up fiendish thoughts 
in his soul. And I seemed to hear him say, ''If Jesus 
will be slain within tv/o days, what will become of 
his followers? As is the leader, so is his disciple 
in the estimation of the people. If the leader be 
worthy of death, then likewise must the disciple be 
made to suffer through the same agency. But sup- 
pose the disciple escape punishment, what can he 
do? I gave up my vocation to follow this one; it 
has been a life of denial, but we have not lacked in 
things absolutely needful. He had power to multiply 
the little until there was enough for all. But what 
shall we do when he is no longer with us? As 
treasurer of our band I know that there is little in 

94 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

our possession. But that waste to-night at the foast, 
— yes, waste! Would that we had the value of that 
ointment! And if he leaves us where shall we go; 
what shall we do? As for myself, I need money, 
for if I am to have no leader I shall have to provide 
for myself. I shall begin to do this at once". 

And the door of Judas' heart was swinging slowly 
on its hinges, — to admit a guest of sinister and for- 
bidding mien: "and Satan entered into Judas". And 
I seemed to hear him say, "Judas, you are right in 
your reasoning; you have just cause for grievance. 
And you must have regard for the future. You do 
need money; and I will tell you how you can easily 
get it". Then he pointed toward the chamber where 
Jesus lay sleeping and fiendishly croaked, "To-night 
they are plotting in Jemsalem as to how they can 
get Him into their power, and they are balked in 
their counsel". And then leering suggestively into 
the face of listening Judas, he said, "If they could 
only find a man familiar with his haunts who would 
consent to take them to him, — that is all, just to show 
them where he is, and which of the men present is 
he, — why, they would be willing to pay a large sum 
of money to the one who would do it". The sug- 
gestion was enough. Judas saw the opportunity to 
get the money for which he longed in order that he 
might make secure his own future as he thought. 
And inwardly he said "I'll go to the council". (And I 
think I see again the contracted brow of the sleeper 
hard by, and hear an involuntary groan escape his 
lips.) 

95 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

And Judas rose quietly from his couch of un- 
rest, and began stealthily to leave the house and 
the company of the Eleven. Standing a moment 
in the doorway to look toward the place where his 
Master lay, the night-wind swept by him and rustled 
the drapery of His couch. Haunted with vague fear 
he sprang into the night; by the light of the moon 
he found the path, and then hurried in his mad 
course over Olivet into the city in time to find the 
baffled council still in session. It was he that was 
the announced caller already referred to. To the 
council it was an unexpected visit, but it proved 
quite welcome. 

And Judas ''communed with the chief priests and 
captains, and said, 'What are ye willing to give me, 
and I will deliver him unto you?' And they were 
glad and covenanted to give him money"; "and they 
weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver". "And he 
consented, and sought opportunity to deliver him 
unto them in the absence of the multitude". 

It would be interesting to know of that last morn- 
ing at Bethany, — to know at what hour Jesus started 
to the city, and to witness his tender parting with 
the members of that pure home that we have learned 
to know and to love. But the sacred record tells us 
nothing about it. So we shall go into the city and 
wait in the great throng for the coming of the hour 
for the killing of the Passover lamb. 

According to Jewish ecclesiastical law every Jew 
must be present at the Feast to partake of the slain 
lamb. Each family, if the family were large, must 

96 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

provide a lamb for sacrifice; or if the families were 
small, then two or three families would unite to feast 
on one lamb; or again, in the absence of families, 
it seems that ten or twelve persons might constitute 
a group for the Feast. 

And Jesus and his company, as Jews, must make 
provision for, and observe the Feast. The story of 
their finding a place in which to eat the Passover, 
and a preparation of all things pertaining to the 
Feast ready and waiting for them, is one of simple 
beauty and pleasing effect. The*' entered the room 
and took their places at the table. After some intro- 
ductory remarks, Jesus gave thanks, and then all 
drank of the cup that he offered. 

As the Feast progressed, it seems that a contention 
arose among the disciples as to which one of them 
would be leader after Jesus would be taken from 
them, showing plainly that if Peter were already 
named by Jesus as holding such position, the disci- 
ples, including Peter, did not so understand it. Jesus 
quietly arose from the table, laid aside his garment, 
and having girded himself with a towel, "he poureth 
water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' 
feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith 
he was girded". Though Peter at first refused to 
submit, he relented; and Jesus washed the feet of 
all. And then he taught in word what it signified. 
Said he, "I have given you an example, that ye also 
should do as I have done to you". True greatness 
is manifest in humble service. 

Then Jesus was much troubled, and said, "One of 

97 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

you shall betray me". They were startled; and 
began "to say unto him one by one, 'Is it I?' " And 
when the sop was given (the sign by which Jesus 
had said he would designate the betrayer) to Judas, 
he also said "Is it I?" The answer came. It was 
"Yes". Then Satan entered into Judas, and to the 
surprise of the others, Judas "went out straightway: 
and it was night". Yes, the darkness of an awful 
night had fallen on Judas. The shadow of the cross 
was on the life of Jesus, but the moral night into 
which Judas plunged was starless — not a ray of 
light. 

Then Jesus talked on with the little company, un- 
folding still further the principles of his kingdom. 
And they all affirmed their willingness and readi- 
ness to lay down their lives for him. But Jesus told 
Peter, who was very vehement in his declaration 
of allegiance, that before the shadows of that very 
night would have cleared away he would have denied 
his Lord three times, notwithstanding the strong as- 
sertion he had just made. 

In the Jewish observance of the Passover the law 
had explicitly declared that some one must ask the 
head of the table this question: "What mean ye by 
this service?" And the head of the table must then 
explain the meaning of the service. And tradition 
says that this part of the Feast-program was never 
omitted. Then since this was a Passover supper, 
and since Jesus was the head of this company, some 
one of the disciples must ask him this same ques- 
tion: "What mean ye by this service?" 

99 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

Then I hear the Master tell the story, — (it was 
definitely outlined in the Law as to what should be 
said). Said he, in substance, I think: — 

"Long ago our fathers were in bondage in Egypt. 
But in the fullness of time the bondage was broken. 
And on the last night in Egypt, just before the tenth 
plague — (the destruction of the first-born of all Egyp- 
tians)— had been inflicted upon the land, this Feast 
was instituted. The blood of the lamb slain for the 
Feast was sprinkled about the doors of the houses of 
all our people, and orders were given that the occu- 
pants should abide within their dwellings, for the 
sprinkled blood was a mark of safety for all within. 
All others were in danger of the plague. And it 
was told them that at midnight the destroying angel 
would wing his flight over all Egypt, destroying the 
first-born of all whose homes were not blood-marked, 
and of all cattle; but he would pass over the homes 
of all those whose doors bore the mark of sacrifice. 
And hence, according to the Law as given by Moses, 
this Feast, called the Pass-over from the fact that 
the destroying angel spared, or passed over our peo- 
ple, has been observed almost without interruption 
ever since. 

"In the Feast there has always been an animal 
called the paschal lamb. And it has always had a 
two-fold significance — it pointed back to the day of 
deliverance from Egypt's power, and it also pointed 
forward to One who as a lamb should be slain, that 
under the blood of His life there might be deliver- 
ance from sin. And the time in history for that 

99 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

sacrifice is here; and the lamb for that sacrifice is 
He who now speaks to you!" And then I think I 
hear him add, "Until now the slain animal was 
necessary as a type of me. But when I, the anti- 
type, am slain, my blood, shed once for all, is for 
all time. Henceforth there shall be no sacrificed 
bird or beast used as a type of the Messiah, for 
the Messiah is her el And this is the last legiti- 
mate Passover Feast. The old order of feasting is 
now ending, and with this hour a new order of 
observance begins", 

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and 
blessed, and brake it; and he gave to the disciples, 
and said, Take, eat; this is my body; this do in 
remembrance of me' ". "And he took a cup, and 
gave thanks, and gave to them saying, 'Drink ye all 
of it; for this is my blood of the covenant, which 
is shed for many unto remission of sins, even that 
which is poured out for you' ". 

Thus he ushered in the new order by instituting 
what is popularly called "the Lord's Supper". 
Henceforth the follower of Christ was to remem- 
ber him, not in slain lamb and bitter herb, but in 
partaking of simple bread and wine — simple, but 
significant of flesh hallowed in suffering service and 
of blood poured out through pierced hands and feet 
and side. Hallowed ordinance, — of sacred associa- 
tion, and of divine command! Who of his followers 
would dare be so untrue to his profession, and so 
unkind to the ever-present Christ as willfully to 

100 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

ignore it! And best of all, to him who in this ordi- 
nance eats and drinks worthily, it is life. 

And then while his own heart was breaking, he 
taught his disciples his last teaching before the cross, 
as found in the fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth and 
seventeenth chapters of John, — beginning with the 
restful counsel, "Let not your heart be troubled", 
and closing with the climax of intercessory prayer, 
"Father, that which thou hast given me, I desire 
that, where I am, they also may be with me". 

The last supper is ended. The last sermon h 
preached; — little else that he said is recorded. And 
I hear coming out of that upper room the subdued 
notes of a song, — and only men are singing. The 
words suggest joy, yet there is perceptible an in- 
describable pathos, and the song ends almost in sobs, 
I think. It is His last hymn. Then the little com- 
pany came down out of the upper room, and wend- 
ing their way along the streets passed out of the city 
and "over the brook Kidron", "unto the Mount of 
Olives", "as his custom was". 

When I visited Jerusalem there was no water in 
Kidron; and I was told that seldom does water now 
flow down the valley, but it sinks into the ground 
and finds a sub-surface course. But in the rainy 
season there is surely a surface stream. There is 
still to be seen the old arched bridge over the bed of 
the Kidron, and over it pass yearly tens of thousands 
of people. 

Near this bridge I saw the largest company of 

101 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

lepers that I saw anywhere on my whole tour of 
the land. And as I looked upon their diseased 
bodies, some with fingers or toes eaten off by the 
dread destroyer, others blind, still others infflicted 
in other ways; and when I heard their pitiful pleas 
for "backsheesh", I felt that it was one of the sad- 
dest spectacles that I had ever seen. As I look I 
wish that I might have the power of Him whose 
path of crimson lay by where they now sit and cry 
for help, for then I could send them rejoicing to 
their friends, who could no longer deny them admit- 
tance to their homes, — for they would be clean. 
But when I have passed by they are still lepers, and 
it will not be long until the disease will snap the 
thread of life, and then the marred bodies will be 
picked up and hidden away in some "potter's field". 
The sight of them and the noise of their cry speak 
in sad comment upon man's physical infirmity. 

Only a little way beyond the bridge is the tradi- 
tional Garden of Gethsemane. To-day it is a walled 
enclosure containing about an acre of ground. The 
enclosing wall is of brick and has a mortar or cement 
covering on top, in which is imbedded a liberal supply 
of broken glass to keep people from trying to climb 
over it. The only entrance is a narrow, low door. 
Within are beautiful flowers artistically arranged in 
beds and well cared for. Eight old Olive trees, 
gnarled and twisted as though showing in their trunks 
the marks of the great struggle here, yet stand in the 
Garden. I am told that under one of them He 
agonized on that "dreadful night". I do not think 

102 



THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL, 

that these trees are more than a few hundred years 
old; but since the Olive perpetuates itself it may 
be that under the parent tree of one of these the 
event referred to took place. At any rate, some- 
where on this western slope of Olivet it did occur. 
In this Garden every visitor talks in low tones, — it is 
a very sacred place. 

The city slept. The little band of heavy-hearted 
ones had reached the farther side of the Kidron, and 
then somewhere in the near environs he stationed 
eight of his disciples, telling them that he would "go 
yonder and pray", and admonishing them in the 
tender words, "Pray that ye enter not into tempta- 
tion". Then taking Peter, James and John he went 
farther, and confiding to them that the weight of 
death was on his soul, he said to them, "Abide ye 
here, and watch for me". And then he went about 
a "stone's cast" forward and, falling on his face, 
there began a struggle the like of Which had not 
been seen since the conflict in the lone wilderness. 
In that struggle he was victorious and angels came 
to him. Will he gain the victory here? and will 
angels come? 

There he lay in agony on the damp ground of 
spring-time, in the darkness of that chill night alone; 
— and he prayed, "O my Father, if it be possible let 
this cup pass away from me: nevertheless not as 
I will, but as thou wilt". But it did not then pass 
away from him; and with the weight of the world 
upon his shoulders, and the sin of the world furrow- 

103 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

ing his brow, he came with heavy step to the three, 
and found them asleep. Waking them and gently 
counseling them to watchfulness and prayer he went 
a second time to pray for the removal of the bitter 
cup, saying "O my Father, if this cannot pass away, 
except I drink it, thy will be done". 

Restless in his agony he came back again for the 
comfort of companionship in his crushing trouble. 
But his three chosen ones were again asleep. Oh 
favored ones, can you not watch one hour with your 
Lord! Oh herb and grass, can you not distil one 
dew-drop tear in sympathy for this suffering one, 
the only holy one that ever trod your carpet of green ! 
Oh stars in the sky-dome, are you set in a heaven 
of brass ! Can it be that man will neglect him, earth 
be unresponsive to his lonely, hungry heart-call, and 
heaven be deaf to his cries! 

He goes again to his lonely retreat; he repeats 
his cry of agony to his Father. And, look! there now 
is help! "There appeared unto him an angel from 
heaven strengthening him". But notwithstanding the 
presence of the strengthening angel, he is still "in 
an agony"; and "he prayed more earnestly, and his 
sweat became as it were great drops of blood fall- 
ing down upon the ground". Awful suffering! But 
the victory is gained at last! 

He comes with lighter step to his own. He has 
them all together for the last time and but for a 
moment, — only long enough to tell them that the 
soft step of the betrayer is approaching. And then 
in the dense darkness of the Garden are seen flam- 

104 






THE BITTER CUP AND THE ANGEL. 

ing torches lighting up hideous, murderous faces, — 
and on the mob comes with stealthy tread and low 
mutterings Of anger. The Eleven, grouped about 
their Master, watch the strange night-band as though 
sensing evil. But their leader is calm. What does 
it mean? 

When Jesus went to Gethsemane, Judas "knew 
the place". And thither he led the band of soldiers, 
and officers from the chief priests, and Pharisees, and 
the elders, who had been designated as the party to 
capture Jesus, They were armed with swords and 
staves. 

And now they face the inoffensive Man of Sor- 
rows, who in the dark hours preceding their approach 
prayed that he might be permitted to escape under 
the cover of the night, if it were possible to save 
these men and all men by any other way than by 
following the road that led over Calvary. But the 
answer to his prayer seemed to be that his crim- 
soned steps must lead on, on to the place where 
his poured-out blood would constitute a fountain, the 
life-blood of a surrendered life. For then the fol- 
lower in his steps would find sit the end of the trail 
the sacrifice that saves; and emulating the example 
would create desire in others to follow lovingly and 
patiently the crimson trail of divine suffering for the 
sins of men, and for the glory of the Father. 

Then strange things happened. The betrayed and 
the betrayer stood face to face. Jesus was calm, and 
before his calmness the attending soldiers fell help- 
less to the ground. Then Judas gave the sign agreed 

105 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

upon with the mob, and coming to Jesus, he said 
"Hail Rabbi!" and "he kissed him". Then said the 
Master, "Betrayest thou the Son of Man with a 
kiss?" "Then they came and laid hands on Jesus 
and took him". Peter wants to fight, but Jesus re- 
bukes him. Then all the disciples flee, and Jesus 
is left alone with the mob that seeks his life.. 



106 



v* ■".':.■ ' 



. ..: ■. ■ : ■-■■ , ■ "■'■' ■■■■ ■ ■.. '...■. . : . . 




GORDON'S CALVARY— WHERE IT IS BELIEVED HE 
WAS SLAIN. 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened 
not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, 
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he open- 
eth not his mouth." — Isaiah 53:7. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he 
said, 'It is finished!' and he bowed his head, and gave 
up the ghost."— John 19:30. 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 
(On Calvary.) 

CHAPTER XI. 

IT was a night of awful gloom and the air of the 
early morning was chill. The conflict with 
self was over and the smile of the angel 
seemed to rest as a kiss on the pale brow of Jesus. 
He makes no struggle with the mob ; he permits him- 
self to be bound and to be pushed noisily and rudely 
away from the quiet place toward which the anxious 
eyes of all generations turn, and a view of which 
place on that night of crisis brings bated breath and 
involuntary sighs, followed by the militant spirit of 
desire to rush upon the mob and forcibly release the 
Friend of man. With Peter we can scarcely consent 
to retire without striking a blow for his freedom ; we 
feel that we would gladly die for him. And when 
we read the story do we wonder that the disciples 
fled? Not only were they restrained from defend- 
ing him, but Jesus himself said to the soldiers, "Let 
these go their way". But Jesus was seized, bound, 
and 'teid away from the Garden to Annas. 

It seems so hard that Jesus must henceforth stand 
alone to face the hate, false-swearing and abuse of 
his malignant enemies. But thus it is. 

107 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

It is no pleasure to me to tell this sad story. But 
having undertaken in this way to follow the path 
that is known by its marks of blood, we must see the 
end, or else it were vain to have begun the story. 
And if the perusal of this book will cause the reader 
to "ponder the path" of his own feet and will cause 
him to be strengthened and willing to endure to the 
end a life of similar devotion to duty, then it were 
well that I should write on. 

In this chapter of sighs, let us first follow Peter. 
After he had hurried away from the mob in the dark- 
ness of Gethsemane, and found that he was not pur- 
sued, he stopped and watched to see what would be 
done with Jesus. And as he watched he saw by the 
light of their lanterns and gleaming torches that they 
were moving toward the city. He followed, keeping 
in the deep shadows, gliding from olive tree to olivs 
tree, and always "afar off", so as to be safe, yet near 
enough to be sure as to the way that they take. 
They cross the Kidron, and then go up the short 
steep path to the city gate, and then through the 
streets to the home of Annas, father-in-law to the 
acting high priest, Caiaphas. When the crowd had 
passed into the court Peter drew near and waited at 
the door. While Peter stood here shivering in the 
chill morning air, John, who had gotten inside, be- 
cause he knew the high priest, and who in the con- 
fusion of the rabble's march to Annas had caught 
a glimpse of Peter's anxious face, and knew that 
even now he must be lingering somewhere near, went 
out to Rnd him: and having found him, he spoke to 

108 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

the maid who kept the door, and she admitted them 
both. But the maid looking closely at Peter asked 
him if he were not one of the prisoner's disciples; 
and he flatly denied it. 

He was now within the lines of the enemy, and 
therefore he would conceal his identity. And it may 
be that he reasoned that by concealing his identity 
he would do no harm to any one, and that only by 
doing so could he remain near enough to see what 
was being done with Jesus. Then he saw a company 
of servants and officers standing about a fire that they 
had made in the open court, "for it was cold"; and 
he drew near to warm at the fire. And surely by 
doing thus his presence would not be regarded with 
such suspicion as it would be were he to hold him- 
self aloof from the men. 

As the trial proceeded before Annas, Peter saw 
one of the officers smite Jesus in the face, who being 
bound could not ward off the blow. And maybe 
those who stood around the fire with him saw a flush 
of indignation mantle his face, and saw his hands 
clinch involuntarily as though he would rush forward 
and resent the base injury. For one of the men 
said to him, "Art thou also one of his disciples?" 
Immediately Peter was recalled to a sense of his 
situation. His identity was suspected, but must not 
be known; so he denied with an oath, saying that 
he was not. 

For an hour the trial proceeded ; for an hour Peter 
lingered by the enemies' fire, but especially inter- 
ested in the proceedings of the trial, which he could 

109 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

observe through the open door into the court. Th«n 
the unexpected happened to Peter. A kinsman of 
Malchus whom Peter had struck with his sword at 
the time of the arrest of Jesus peered into the face 
of Peter and said, "Did not I see thee in the garden 
with him?" "Of a truth thou art also one of them: 
for thy speech betrayeth thee: for thou art a Gali- 
lean". Peter's disguise had certainly been pene- 
trated; but he must be consistent with his former 
denials, and so he repeats his former assertion with 
curses and swearing, saying "I know not this man 
of whom ye speak". Listen! It is the shrill clarion 
of a rooster! Ordinary morning call, it is true. But 
this call was not ordinary. A dumb fowl this morn- 
ing calls Peter to remembrance. And in quick suc- 
cession the scenes pass before his memory. He 
saw himself a short while ago declare his willing- 
ness to die with Jesus even though all others should 
forsake him ; he heard his Master's reply that earnest 
as he might think himself to be, yet, before the morn- 
ing call of the fowls he would three times have de- 
nied his discipleship. It was true as the Master had 
said. He looked toward the trial-room and "the 
Lord turned and looked upon Peter". And then the 
proud, haughty disciple of a moment before bowed 
his head in shame, and leaving the fire and the com- 
pany of the enemy, he went out into the raw early 
morning and "wept bitterly". And the morning stars 
had not yet paled as Peter groped his way aimlessly 
along the streets of Jerusalem, — the blinding tears in 
his eyes and choking sabs in his voice, — for all 

110 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

Nature, waked by the rooster's cry, seemed condemn- 
ing him. 

And is it not true that the song of a bird, or the 
fragrance of a flower, or the trembling moonlight 
resting like patches of silver under the orchard trees, 
has caused some one to remember words and vows 
that were nearly or quite forgotten? And maybe 
that some one was you. And when the voice called 
you to remembrance, it may be that you too shed 
tears and wept. 

Following this the band of captors headed by 
Annas led Jesus away to Caiaphas. And with them 
were all the chief priests, elders and scribes. And 
these latter made a vigorous search for witnesses 
who might know something that as testimony would 
condemn Jesus; but they failed in their search. 
Finally there were certain who consented to bear 
false witness. To the statements made by them 
Jesus answered not a word. But when Caiaphas put 
Jesus on oath to declare whether or not he was the 
Christ, he replied in unqualified simplicity, "I am". 
The high priest pronounced it blasphemy, and ac- 
cording to the law against blasphemy, "they all con- 
demned him to be worthy of death". 

But as it was not yet daylight all these actions 
were illegal, and therefore, there must be another 
meeting of the council after daylight. It was called. 
And until it convened it seems that Jesus was left 
under a guard of soldiers, — and likely a rabble of 
Jews lingered about to enjoy wicked sport with him. 
They "mocked him, and beat him"; "and they did 

111 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

spit in his face and buffet him". "And they blind- 
folded him, and asked him, saying, 'Prophesy unto 
us, thou Christ: who is he that struck thee?' " And 
they spoke other things against him and reviled him. 
I seem to hear their raillery, to hear them smite his 
unprotected head ; to see that sweet face covered with 
saliva from his foul-mouthed accusers; and then I 
see them turn him over again to the officers, "who 
received him with blows of their hands". And 
wherefore all this? Not because he had done a 
single injury to a single one of his tormentors or 
cruel captors. No, for the record of his life is that 
he "went about doing good". 

But the shadows of that awful night are past, and 
day has dawned. At the earliest possible legal hour 
the council of the night reassembled. Its session 
seems to have been very brief. In it Jesus is again 
asked if he is the Christ ,and again the answer given 
is, "I am". The sentence that he is worthy of death 
is reaffirmed, and now the action being legal, they 
have gone as far as they can go in the matter. They 
dare not execute the sentence. Had the Jews been 
permitted to execute their sentence, according to 
their law Jesus would have been stoned to death, — 
and the prophecy concerning the manner of his death 
would not have been fulfilled. But the Romans are 
in authority in Palestine, and they alone have power 
to make effective a death sentence. So now the 
Romans must be consulted; — hence the Jews lead 
Jesus, still bound, to Pilate. 

But what has become of Judas? He seems to 

112 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

have lingered about the courts to keep informed as 
to the proceedings of the councils. Whether he 
thought that when the Jews had thoroughly tested 
Jesus they would be convinced of his innocence and 
let him go; or, if they kept him prisoner, he with 
such power as he himself had seen him exercise a 
few times would free himself, it is impossible for 
me to say. But it does seem to me that he was 
disappointed in the progress of matters; for the nar- 
rative distinctly tells us that "when he saw that he 
was condemned", he "repented himself, and brought 
back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests 
and elders, saying, 'I have sinned in that I have be- 
trayed innocent blood' ". And in this act I think he 
made a strong plea for the release of Jesus. But 
they only mocked him. Stung at their refusal to 
hear him he threw down the silver and hurried out. 
The council took up the silver, and in discussion as 
to what disposition should be made of it, it was finally 
decided to use it to buy a "potter's field, to bury 
strangers in". And in this another prophecy was 
fulfilled. 

And Judas, away from Jesus, shunned by his 
fellow-disciples, alienated from the council, and now 
even without the money that he had thought would 
serve him well in months and years to come, — Judas 
is alone, in despair — possibly the most pitiable mere 
human being that ever lived. 

1 have seen on two different Passion Play years 
the Oberammergauan, Zwink, delineate this despair 
of Judas in semi-tragic interpretation until the thou- 

113 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

sands present seemed moved with pitying compas- 
sion for the poor misguided child of fate. And 1 
scarcely think that he exaggerated in his impersona- 
tion. The sacred narrative is so brief — confined to 
one sentence. But it is an awful sentence; hear 
it, — "he departed; and he went away and hanged 
himself". "Departed"! "away"! and "hanged"!— 
only three words, but each word big as a thunderbolt 
of wrath. And may it not be possible, that, consider- 
ing the nature of Judas' death, they took his body 
and buried it in the field that was bought with his 
own money! Was this money that he had thought 
would-be used to secure his future subsistence used 
in buying his grave? And was he the first occupant 
of that newly bought field? Who knows! 

Jesus is now in the Praetorium, or palace of Pilate, 
but the Jews did not go in, for that act would defile 
them according to their law, and then they could not 
eat the Passover. Pilate recognized their scruples 
and went out to them to get the accusation, and 
hearing what the accusation was, he told them to 
take Jesus and dispose of him according to their law. 
But as they had already passed such sentence as they 
were not permitted to execute without Roman sanc- 
tion, they pressed the point of a hearing before 
Pilate, the Roman governor. Then Pilate went in 
and had a searching conversation with Jesus, with 
such result that he came out and declared to the 
Jews that he could "find no crime in him". The Jews 
brought further accusations. Pilate took them to 
Jesus, who is silent this time ; — 'and he returns again 

114 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

saying, "I find no fault in this man". The Jews not 
to be baffled, became frenzied in their denunciations 
and said that he was a disturber of the peace, that 
he by his teachings had stirred up the people even 
from Galilee to Jerusalem. "Is he a Galilean?", said 
Pilate. And when he learned that "he was of 
Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who him- 
self was at Jerusalem in these days". 

When Herod saw Jesus he was much pleased, for 
'he had heard a very great deal about him, and he 
had) been wanting for a long time to see him; and 
here in far-off Jerusalem the opportunity had unex- 
pectedly presented itself to him. He wanted to see 
him perform a miracle, as he had heard of his doing 
elsewhere. But Jesus performed no miracle before 
Herod. And 'though Herod asked him many ques- 
tions (the chief priests and the scribes standing by 
and "vehemently accusing him"), he was silent. 
Why should he answer this man who had no further 
interest in him than if he were a clown brought be- 
fore him to give him merriment or entertainment! 
Angry at his silence, "Herod with his soldiers set 
him at nought, and mocked him, and arraying him 
in gorgeous apparel sent him' back to Pilate". 

As a result of Pilate's sending Jesus to Herod, the 
latter gave up his grudge against the former, and a 
reconciliation was effected between them. But when 
wrong becomes reconciled with other wrong is the 
cause of truth made stronger thereby! 

Before Pilate for the second time, the multitude 
reminded him of their custom at the great Feast — 

115 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

to release some criminal whom they might name. 
Pilate's brow cleared. Here is his chance. Said 
he, "Will ye that I release unto you the King of the 
Jews?" And just then, while he was sitting on the 
judgment-seat, a message was received from his wife 
telling him to "have nothing to do with that righteous 
man", for she had "suffered many things" that "day 
in a dream because of him". Then Pilate said to 
the Jews that he had examined the case, and he told 
them for the third time that he could find no fault 
in him. And since they had asked for the release 
of a prisoner, he said simply, "I will therefore chas- 
tise him and release him". "But they cried out all 
together, saying, 'Away with this man, and release 
unto us Barabbas!' ' Now Barabbas was a murderer. 
Pilate solemnly asked which of the two he should re- 
lease, Jesus or Barabbas. And the multitude, previ- 
ously instructed by the chief priests and scribes, said 
"Barabbas!" The issue as to Jesus is still undecided. 
Pilate next asked "What then shall I do unto Jesus, 
who is called Christ?" The awful, cruel, fiendish 
cry came from all, — "Let him be crucified!" — And 
though Pilate tried to reason with them, their only 
form of argument was, "Let him be crucified!" — and 
this they repeated again and again. 

So Pilate washing his hands in the presence of the 
Jews said he was innocent of the blood of Jesus; and 
he gave them Barabbas, "but Jesus he scourged and 
delivered to their will to be crucified". And oh, that 
scourging! I seem to hear the singing of the many- 
stranded lash through the air and then the sharp 

116 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

cutting stroke; I seem to see the oozing blood; I 
seem to feel my own nerves twitch in stinging sensa- 
tions! And it was for me that he suffered it all! 

"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into 
the Prastorium and gathered unto him the whole 
band. And they stripped him, and put on him 
a scarlet robe. And they plaited a crown of thorns 
and put it upon (his head, and a reed in his right 
hand; and they kneeled down before him, and 
mocked him, saying, 'Hail, King of the Jews!' And 
they spat upon him, and took the reed and smote 
him on the head." 

Then Pilate took him out to the Jews, crowned 
with the thorns, in purple robe, and with face and 
body blood-marked, — and Jesus being bound, could 
not remove the filth and blood from his fair face. 
What a spectacle! Yet Pilate said for the fourth 
time to the multitude, "I find no crime in him"; and 
then, as though at last to excite their pity, he said 
"Behold the man!" But it excited no pity in them. 
They had now a taste of blood, and like a wild beast 
of prey they thirsted for more blood. And they cried 
out angrily and repeatedly, "Crucify him; crucify 
him!" For, added they, "he said that he was the 
Son of God!" Pilate was troubled at this, and sought 
a further conversation, the result of which was to 
convince him still further of the extraordinary char- 
acter of Jesus; and bringing him out for the last 
time, he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" 

The trial is over, and Jesus is led away to b« 
crucified. Where is the place of crucifixion? There 

117 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

are two views. One view, which is the tradition of 
the centuries, locates it within the walls of the mod- 
ern city under the roof of the Church of the Holy 
Sepulcher. The other view is that a hill a little way 
north of Damascus Gate is the site of Calvary. This 
latter place is called "Gordon's Calvary" because a 
man by the name of Gordon was prominent in sug- 
gesting and making popular the view that this is the 
place of the crucifixion. This opinion is the result of 
careful investigation and the development of 
thought chiefly within the last sixty years. Tradi- 
tion favors the site within the city, but the fitness 
of things seems to suggest the hill to the north. 

Tradition also points out the place of the scourg- 
ing, and the way to the place of execution called the 
Via Dolorosa, or Way of Sorrow. When it is re- 
membered how many sieges Jerusalem has had, and 
its several destructions, one will scarcely believe that 
the street-ways of to-day are the same as were those 
of nearly two thousand years ago. But it will be 
interesting to the visitor to the Holy City to go to 
the designated place of scourging on any Friday 
afternoon about four o'clock. Pilgrims will be seen 
kneeling in the street at prayers, — the prayer fin- 
ished, they will rise and proceed to what is called 
the next station, — there are eight stations, I believe, 
according to their tradition, before reaching Calvary. 
And at each of these stations the pilgrims will kneel 
and pray, or at least they will seek the tablet in the 
wall that declares the nature of the event that oc- 
curred there. And, having found the tablet of brass 

118 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

or stone, they will kiss it. The Calvary of the 
Church of the Holy Sepuloher is a little hill within 
the Church, and has (or had) twenty-one steps cut 
into it by Which the summit is reached. 

Wherever the place of the crucifixion, we have 
reached the point in my story where the saddest pro- 
cession ever formed in the world's history is headed 
toward it. Jesus and two malefactors are led thither 
to be put to death. 

It was not long until the great cross that Jesus 
was bearing, and on which he was to die, proved to 
be too heavy for his strength. So they seized Simon 
of Cyrene, who had just come in from the country, 
and compelled him to bear the cross. In the multi- 
tude that followed all was not rage, (although rage 
predominated) , for there were many men and women 
who "bewailed and lamented him". Jesus heard 
their crying above the shouting of the demon mob, 
and he addressed words of prophecy to them. 

The procession has reached Golgotha. Notwith- 
standing the many things that have already happened 
on this day, it is probably not yet later than nine 
o'clock in the morning, for Mark says it was the third 
hour when they crucified him. He refuses the of- 
fered drink of wine "mingled with gall", — a concoc- 
tion designed to lessen the sense of excruciating 
pain of one being crucified, — and it is only a little 
while until lie is brutally nailed to the wood, and a 
moment later is seen suspended on his cross, with a 
thief on a cross at either side of him, who like- 
wise are fastened with cruel nails in hands and feet. 

119 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

But listen! He speaks, "Father, forgive them; for 
they know not what they do!" 

Pilate wrote "JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE 
KING OF THE JEWS", in Hebrew, Greek and 
Latin, and put it on the cross; and although the 
Jews sought to have the writing changed, Pilate 
would not yield. 

Then four soldiers divided his garments among 
them; and since his coat, or tunic, was woven in 
one piece, rather than spoil its serviceableness, they 
cast lots to determine who should have it, thus un- 
consciously fulfilling another prophecy. 

Mockery followed. People passed by the cross 
wagging their heads and telling him that if he could 
destroy the Temple and build it again in three days 
he should save himself. And the chief priests and 
scribes and elders, gloating over their long-delayed 
revenge, mocked him in scorn, saying, "He saved 
others; himself he cannot save!" Then the soldiers 
took up the taunt and came to him and offered him 
vinegar, saying "If thou art the King of the Jews, 
save thyself!" And lastly, one of the malefactors 
railed on him, saying, "Art not thou the Christ? save 
thyself and us!" 

But the other malefactor rebuked his fellow- 
sufferer in words of reason, and then turning his eyes 
in compassion upon the central figure in Calvary's 
tragedy, said, "Jesus, remember me when thou 
comest into thy kingdom!" To his cry of faith there 
came to him in the second saying of Jesus on the 
cross, the sweet message of assurance, — "Verily I 

120 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

say unto thee, 'To-day shalt thou be with me in 
Paradise V " 

Then followed a very tender scene. Among the 
sympathizing ones standing near, but powerless to 
help, were the mother of Jesus, and John. They were 
standing side by side, and I think that John was 
supporting Mary. She "stood by the cross" of her 
son. And this is typical of any true mother — the 
crisis or cross of her child's life is her crisis or cross, 
and she will stand by it until the issue is decided 
either in victory or in defeat. Does not this scene 
warm the heart in thought of one whose remembered 
support in the hour of trial comes like a sweet in- 
vigorating fragrance out of the dim past? Mary, the 
loving mother, and John, the loving disciple, stand- 
ing side by side., and at the cross! Will Jesus not 
see them ? Will he not note their haggard and tear- 
stained faces? Ah, yes; he looks; he recognizes; he 
speaks to them. It is but the third utterance given 
since nailed to the cross. It is, "Woman, behold 
thy son!" and to John he said, "Behold, thy mother!" 
And henceforth M<ary abode at John's house. 

Time dragged on. At the sixth hour — midday — a 
strange darkness fell "over all the land, the sun's 
light failing until the ninth hour". An eclipse of 
the sun? No, there oan be no eclipse of the sun at 
the time of full moon, — and the time of the Passover 
was always determined by this particular full moon. 
No, it was not an eclipse of the sun; but it was 
nature's temporary veiling of the Sun of Righteous- 
ness. And the watchers saw dimly the contorted 

121 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

faces and forms of the crucified victims and heard 
their groans uttered in agony; and they feared. The 
mocking ceased, and nervous anxiety prevailed. A 
fourth time Jesus opened his parched and feverish 
lips in speech, and "cried with a loud voice, saying, 
'Eli, Eli 3 lama sabachthaniV " This in our language 
means "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me!" — the most awful cry that the world ever heard. 

Some thought that he called upon Elijah, and 
waited to see. And some offered again the vinegar. 
Later, in the darkness, the watchers heard his fifth 
cry; and it was, "I thirst!" In response to his cry he 
was given the usual offering to one being crucified. 
And when he "had received the vinegar", his lips 
moistened by the same, he said in clear enunciation 
and emphatic distinctness, in his sixth utterance, "It 
is finished!" Blood trickling from hands and feet 
had crimsoned the cross and the ground. His poor 
heart had almost ceased to beat; the flow of the 
life-streams had ebbed and ebbed until strength was 
almost gone. Yet summoning all the energy he could 
command the dying Jesus again "cried with a loud 
voice", and said "Father, into thy hands I commend 
my spirit!" It was his seventh, his last, his death-cry. 
And then "he bowed his head" and died. 

Can it be, O earth, that the sweet voice of him 
whom the common people heard gladly, and that 
stilled the storm on Galilee, is forever hushed ! Can 
it be that the eyes that filled at Bethany's sorrow and 
at Jerusalem's wickedness are forever closed! Can 
it be that those hands that gave healing touch to 

122 



THE PILGRIM SLAIN. 

afflicted ones, but now nail-pierced and mangled, 
must be crossed forever in death's repose! Can it 
be that those 'feet that hastened to cross the threshold 
of want and misery regardless of tradition or preju- 
dice, now stained with real blood of sacrifice, must 
here give up the journey! Can it be that that heart 
that ever beat in sympathy with every woe, and 
yearned in tender compassion for all mankind, must 
be forever still! Oh, it cannot be! 

But, as he said, it is "finished". Here the hu- 
miliated estate terminates; here the life of toil and 
sacrifice is completed; here, at the cross, the Crim- 
son Trail ends. 

But my story is not yet ended. Cheerless the 
thought that this limp and bruised body were the 
last view of the Christ that human eyes should see! 
Were it so, then darker would be the land and the 
life with the dead Christ than was the long midday 
pall that hung in the sky to screen the exit of the 
Niazarene. 

But standing here at the pierced feet of the Man 
of Sorrows, I seem to hear again from his stilled lips 
his statement as to the cost of discipleship, — "He 
that would be my disciple, let him deny himself, and 
take up his cross daily and follow me". 

We have tried to follow him throughout Palestine 
in this story; and everywhere we have found his 
life one of self-denial. His human plans were often 
crossed by God's will, and he always took up the 
cross. So it must be with his disciple. Shall it 
not be pledged right here and now, at the foot of 

123 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

the cross, in view of the perfect sacrifice, in heart- 
vibrating language of surrender to Him, 

"I will follow whithersoever thou goest." 



124 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the 
rich in his death; because he had done no violence, 
neither was any deceit in his mouth." — Isaiah 53:9. 

"He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be 
s atisfi ed . ' ' — I s ai ah 53:11. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing 
the stone, the guard being with them." — Matthew 27:66. 

"And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an 
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and 
rolled away the stone, and sat upon it." — Matthew 28:2. 

"And the angel answered and said unto the women, 
'Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath 
been crucified. He is not here; for he is risen, even as 
he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.' " 

—Matthew 28:5,6. 



THE BROKEN SEAL. 



THE BROKEN SEAL. 
(At the Sepulcher.) 

CHAPTER XII. 

WHEN Jesus died on the cross strange things 
happened. There was a great earthquake 
and a rending of rocks. And in the dark- 
ness and confusion on Calvary the news was soon 
received that the veil in the Temple, hiding the Ark 
and the Mercy Seat from carnal eyes, had been 
mysteriously rent in twain from the top to the bottom, 
thus making common exposure of things held sacred 
for over a thousand years. 

What could it all mean? The first to find voice 
and give expression of opinion were the centurion 
and his band of watchmen at the tragedy, — they said 
"Truly this was the Son of God!" They saw in the 
phenomena attending the crucifixion only divine 
agency, and even in their prejudiced minds the con- 
clusion was reached, that the one they had just killed 
was what he said himself to be — the Son of God. 

It is a picture, beautiful in its sadness, that now 
presents itself. Turning our eyes from the dead, 
we see standing on the outskirts of the crowd, afraid 
to come nearer, many women "beholding from afar, 

125 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering 
unto him: among Whom was Mary Magdalene, and 
Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother 
of the sons of Zebedee, and many other women that 
came up with him unto Jerusalem". And, I think, 
the widow of Nam was among the number. Ah, yes; 
the mother-heart, and the sister-heart, clings to the 
religion of Jesus as it can cling to no other religion. 

I further think that the mother of John, who is 
mentioned as being in the group, was not jealous 
that her son stood nearer the cross supporting the 
mother of Jesus, and that she was exceedingly glad 
when, the death-struggle ended, John brought Mary 
to her and told her of Jesus' words to them in his hour 
of suffering, — glad that her humble home was hence- 
forth to be the shelter of the mother of her Lord. 

But it is nearing sun-down, the time of the begin- 
ning of a new day in the Jewish calendar, — and this 
new day is the Jewish Sabbath — and this Sabbath is 
a high day in their calendar of festivals. Therefore 
they want the bodies of the crucified ones taken 
down speedily. A petition to Pilate from the Jews 
to the effect that the legs of the victims might be 
broken to hasten their decease was granted. Then 
the soldiers heartlessly break the legs of the male- 
factors; but on coming to Jesus they find him already 
dead. Therefore they did not break his legs, but 
that they might be certain as to his death, one thrust 
a spear into his side. And thus two other prophe- 
cies concerning the Christ were fulfilled. 

Then Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich man, a councilor 

126 



THE BROKEN SEAL. 

of prominence who counseled against the crucifixion, 
and a secret disciple of Jesus, went boldly to Pilate 
to ask for his body. And when Pilate's suspicion as 
to his being not yet dead had been set aside by his 
calling in the centurion and questioning him, "he 
granted the corpse to Joseph". 

Following Joseph came Nicodemus, another secret 
disciple — the one who held the night-conversation 
with him — bearing about a hundred-pound weight of 
a mixture of myrrh and aloes; — for he meant to 
assist in the obsequies. I am so glad for the men- 
tion of these two men here. I feel sure that the 
world to-day has in it many secret disciples of 
Christ; and I much fear that public teachers, in their 
effort to get open declaration of discipleship, often 
brand unwisely and injudiciously secret followers 
of Christ as cowards. In the story of the Passion 
we have seen the bold ones flee and the timid ones 
step forth. And is it not often true that those who 
are timid in public service are the ones who step 
forward boldly and give needed ministration when 
others flee? 

Then they tenderly took down the body of Jesus, 
"and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the 
custom of the Jews is to bury". The scene of these 
two men quietly at work with the dead body of Jesus 
near the sunset hour is a touch ingly pathetic one. 
The sun that had been thwarted in his effort to see 
the end of the great tragedy, because of the pall that 
had settled on Calvary, may now look upon the vic- 
tim pale and clean in his death-robes, — and it seems 

127 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

to me that the face of the whole west sky is red 
with weeping. 

But the dead body of Jesus must be buried; where 
shall it be laid? There are two views as to the place 
of burial, — one view places it within the Church of 
the Holy Sepulcher hard by the Calvary already 
mentioned as likewise located there. The sepulcher 
here is in a building of its own, eighteen feet by 
twenty-six feet in size, and surmounted by a crown, 
or dome, supported by sixteen marble columns. It 
is within the Church and occupies a place imme- 
diately beneath its great dome. In this smaller build- 
ing are two rooms; — the first one to be entered by 
tourists is called the Chapel of the Angel, because 
it is said to contain a piece of the rock that was 
rolled back from the door of the tomb by the angel. 
From this room entrance is made into the farther 
room, which is much smaller. In it lights are always 
kept burning; and here are rich tapestries with trim- 
mings of gold. 

Just to the right after entering I saw a marble 
slab supported in position about twenty-four inches 
from the floor, and bending over this slab I saw pil- 
grims in emotional prayer, — and then I saw them 
reverently kiss it. Did I kiss it? No. But even 
though there is now scarcely anything here that sug- 
gests a tomb, the traditions concerning the place were 
early and continuous. And this may be the place 
of the burial of Jesus; I do not know. But I do know 
that to recover this little spot of ground "from the 
hands of the Infidel was the dominant thought of 

128 



THE BROKEN SEAL. 

Christian Europe for more than two centuries; and it 
is estimated that the several Crusades organized to ac- 
complish this object cost from six to ten million human 
lives" ! So, the fact of the sacrifice to secure it makes 
this a sacred place, even though the traditions that 
make it the burial-place of Jesus be not well founded. 

The other view locates the Sepulcher near to 
"Gordon's Calvary", Which, as we have already 
noted, is a little to the north of the Damascus Gate. 
By this Calvary there is a garden; in the garden 
there is a cliff; in the cliff there is an ancient rock- 
cut tomb; before the door is yet seen the groove in 
which in olden times the wheel-shaped rock rolled 
forward to close the opening. To-day the stone is 
gone. But a modern wooden door is opened to us. 
Stepping inside I find a small chamber, yet large 
enough for several persons at one time; and I see 
two sarcophagi of stone carven out of, and remain- 
ing a part of, the native rock of the cliff. And, if 
I remember aright, these sarcophagi have pillows of 
stone in them. 

Reading the story of the sepulture of Jesus in the 
light of present conditions at Jerusalem, the environs 
of this latter place almost compel one to say "Here 
they laid him in the tomb". But remembering the 
possible changes in Jerusalem and its surroundings 
made by war and the ravages of the elements dur- 
ing nineteen centuries, I am uncertain about it. I 
only know that I have seen the hill and walked near 
the place where redemption in its fullness was pur- 
chased for the race. On this point I am satisfied. 

129 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

The simple Bible narrative of the burial of Jesus 
says, "Now in the place where he was crucified there 
was a garden ; and in the garden his" (Joseph's) "new 
tomb which had been hewn out of a rock, wherein 
was never man yet laid. There then because of the 
Jews' Preparation (for the tomb was nigh at hand) 
they laid Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door 
of the tomb and departed". 

Is not the vision clear from these few words? Can 
you not see the little company bearing the en- 
shrouded body of Jesus in the early evening of that 
sad, sad day into the garden to its place of rest? 
And how fitting that the last resting-place o>f the 
Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley should be 
in a garden! And tear-eyed women with sigh-laden 
voices followed their dead Friend, and, standing under 
the blossoming trees of the garden, watched to see 
where they laid him away. And having seen, they 
went away to prepare spices and ointments, — and 
to come again. 

The haze-mist thickens until the sun almost hid- 
den sinks behind the hills of Judea, once thought to 
be sacred, but now not holy, — for Jesus is dead! It 
is a dark night that is settling over Palestine, — and 
there will be weeping until the day dawn and the 
"shadows flee away". 

The obsequies over, the last tender touches given, 
a farewell look— that had in it a kiss of love for 
the calm cold brow, — and then the door is closed by 
the rolling-stone, and Joseph and Nicodemus depart. 
I think they shudder as they look at the hill, and 

130 



THE BROKEN SEAL. 

remember; but I think too that there is a feeling of 
satisfaction at the thought of what they have just 
done. 

In the city is the confusion and noise of the multi- 
tude. But Calvary is deserted and still. How dif- 
ferent from a few 'hours before, when it saw the 
climax of the world's storm of rage and hate! And 
there is a calm and holy hush in the garden. Night 
has come down and draped the Sepulcher in robes 
of black, — and Nature's voice is still. Hidden from 
sight, in palace of rock, on couch of rock, with head 
on pillow of rock, — alone! Oh, in the thought of 
all this, and only of this, death is terrible! But He 
said Lazarus slept when men thought him dead, and 
he waked him. Does He now sleep? And will He 
awake ? 

The first night is gone. The high Feast day has 
arrived. On this day the chief priests and Pharisees 
remembered that Jesus had said that after three days 
he would rise again; so they hurried to Pilate to 
get permission to have the Sepulcher made secure, 
fearing, as they said, that his disciples would come 
and steal the body and then give out report that he 
had risen. "Pilate said unto them, Te have a guard: 
go, make it as sure as ye can'. So they went, and 
made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone; the 
guard being with them." 

And the great Feast progressed. At last there had 
come a sense of security to the Churchmen at Jerusa- 
lem. The voice of Jesus could no longer be heard, 
and his presence would no longer be a menace to 

131 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

their traditions. They congratulated each other and 
were happy. 

After a busy day the weary people seek repose, 
some comfortably housed within the city, others in 
booths inside or about its walls. But out in the gar- 
den there is a waking guard. And in fancy I hear 
the tread to and fro all through the hours of that 
night, — men guarding the dead body of Jesus, — and 
not because they loved it, but because of Jewish hate. 
The night-winds sigh in the branches of the orchard 
trees; the birds are restless in their nests; and the 
very stars seem almost weeping, — but, the guard 
wakes and walks ever alert that no one may ap- 
proach near to the object over which they keep 
watch. 

But at last the night shadows begin to yield; a 
soft diffusing light is noticeable along the sky-line 
over Olivet, — it is the early morning of the third 
day after the burial. (That is, the body has been 
in the tomb on three different days.) Portentous 
hour! A great earthquake! An angel from heaven 
rolling back the stone from the door of the tomb, 
regardless that in doing so he breaks the seal! The 
fallen, fear-stricken guard! The risen Christ! The 
empty sepulcher! And more: "Many bodies of the 
saints that had fallen asleep were raised; and com- 
ing forth out of the tombs after his resurrecfton, they 
entered into the holy city and appeared unto many!" 
And, darkness is turned into light, and mourning into 
rejoicing. 



132 



THE NIGHT VISION. 

"The Lord said untoj my Lord, 'Sit thou at my right 
hand, until I make thine enemies my footstool.' " 

—Psalms 110:1. 



THE DAY STAR. 

"And he said unto them, 'Go ye into all the world, and 
preach the gospel to the whole creation.'" — Mark 16:15. 

"And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he parted 
from them, and was carried up into heaven.'.' 



'RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY: 



"RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY." 
(On Olivet.) 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THAT was a morning of great joy. There was 
life in the tomb. And He who was and is 
the Light of men lighted and placed the 
lamp of hope in the grave of the race. And seeing 
that light, millions have entered into the "valley of 
the shadow" without fear; and millions more have 
lived on in daily toil cheered in their loneliness by 
this saying of his, "Because I live ye shall live also". 
Yes, their believing dead shall live ; and they, believ- 
ing, though they die, yet shall they live. Beautiful 
despair-dispelling light! And it has never dimmed; 
nor will it ever go out. Yes, it was a morning of 
great joy for the world. But there were many who 
did not know of the wonderful happenings at the 
sepulcher. 

The women who had watched at his interment re- 
turned, and prepared spices and ointments; then 
they rested on the Sabbath, that was already begin- 
ning when they left the garden that evening, and 
early on the following morning three of them — Mar} 
Magdalene, M^ry the mother of James, and Salome, 
—started for the tomb. The sun had risen and it was 

133 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

a morning in which all Nature , seemed glad. But 
because of ignorance man was in gloom. And as 
they went they remembered the large stone that they 
had seen rolled in its groove to close the door. But 
they knew nothing of the placing of the Roman seal; 
nor did they know of the soldier-watch about their 
Lord. And while they questioned about the stone, 
they drew near, and, to their amazement, they saw 
that the door was open. Had marauders ruthlessly 
broken into the tomb and impiously disturbed the 
body of Jesus? 

Overcome with forebodings of evil, it seems that 
Miary Magdalene turned and fled to tell the news. 
But the other women went on to investigate. And 
they entered into the tomb and found it empty. 
Looking about in their perplexity, they saw a young 
man sitting at the right side clothed in white. He 
speaks, — and these are his words: "Be not amazed: 
why seek ye the living among the dead: ye seek 
Jesus, the Nazarene, who hath been crucified: he is 
risen : he is not here : remember how he spake unto 
you when he was yet in Galilee, saying that the Son 
of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful 
men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again: 
behold the place where they laid him! But go, tell 
his disciples and Peter, 'He goeth before you into 
Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto 
you' ". Then they hurried out of the sepulcher and 
through the garden to tell the disciples as they were 
bidden, — and their hearts were filled with "fear and 
great joy", 

134 



''RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY." 

When Mary Magdalene, at sight of the open sepul- 
cher, ran to tell the news she met Peter and John 
who, it seems, were coming to look upon the tomb. 
Was Peter present at the crucifixion? Who knows! 
We last saw him in the early morning of the trial 
in the streets of the city weeping bitterly. But if 
Peter did not see Jesus die, John saw all, and I am 
sure that ere now he had told Peter the story com- 
plete. And I think that Peter's sad heart gladdened 
when he heard how Jesus had prayed for his ene- 
mies, — for then surely there was hope for him. 

When these two had heard of the open sepulcher, 
filled with a vague fear, they ran to see what had 
happened, — MJary Magdalene following. On reach- 
ing the tomb they entered it, and making a careful 
investigation, they found the cerements of the dead, 
but they found not the dead. It seems that no reve- 
lation was at this time given to the men, and they 
departed to go to their homes strangely wondering. 

But Mary, who had stood without, weeping, now 
alone, stooped to look into the tomb, and through her 
tear-filled eyes she saw "two angels in white sitting, 
one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body 
of Jesus had lain". They questioned her as to the 
cause of her weeping, and when she had sobbed out 
her answer she turned with heavy heart to go away. 
And in doing so she met a stranger who also asked 
her the cause of her tears. She, thinking that he 
was the gardener of the place, imagined that for 
some reason he had removed the corpse, — and the 
thought of that Cherished body being; in the hands 

135 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

of strangers and uncared for caused her to plead for 
information as to its present whereabouts. The an- 
swer was but one word — "Mary!" But in that one 
word was a revelation. And then the broken-hearted 
woman saw, and with the exclamation, "Master!", on 
her lips, she would have clung to him had he not 
denied her the privilege of touching him. And after 
a few more words, in which he told her to go and 
tell his brethren this saying, "I ascend unto my 
Father and your Father, and my God and your God", 
it seems that he turned to leave the place; and in 
doing so he met the other women, saying, "All hail!" 
And to these he said, "Go, tell my brethren that they 
depart into Galilee and there shall they see me". 
Thus begins the sequel of my story, without which 
it were well that the story itself had never been told. 
Then some of the guard went into the city and 
told the chief priests what had happened while they 
watched. A council was immediately called, and in 
the meeting it was decided to bribe the watchmen, 
by paying them "large money", to report as follows: 
"His disciples came by night, and stole him away 
while we slept." To have slept on duty would have 
meant death to the Roman soldier so doing, should 
the governor hear of it. So they feared to make 
such report. But the council promised to protect 
them. Then, their fears allayed, they took the money 
and went out to circulate falsehoods concerning the 
sublimest event in all history, and upon the truth of 
which the destiny of the race hung, and yet hangs. 
But they could not veil that light, — it had burst 

136 



'RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY.' 



k. m 

through the clouds of prejudice and hate to shine 
in undimmed splendor forevermore. 

It is generally believed that Jesus appeared to men 
ten times after he rose from the dead and before he 
left the earth, — the first few times at short intervals, 
and then at periods of longer interval. And it seems 
wise that it was so, for thus the disciples would 
gradually become accustomed to his absence, and yet 
wait eagerly for the next time in which he would 
appear. And later he could go away under promise 
to come again, and the faithful, in the knowledge of 
what he had already done and of what he had 
promised to do, would wait and watch ; — and the end 
of each waiting life would be peace. 

Is it strange that the only ones who saw the risen 
Christ were his disciples? Is it of any use to show 
a precious jewel to a man who will immediately place 
his hand before his eyes and say, "I do not see, 
therefore I do not believe it is a jewel"? 

On the very day of his resurrection two of his dis- 
ciples left the city for their home at Emmaus, about 
seven and a-haltf miles distant. They knew of the 
crucifixion, burial and reported resurrection. But 
they themselves had not seen Him alive again. They 
were perplexed and sad; and they were disappointed, 
for they had hoped that He was the Messiah. And 
as they walked and were sad a stranger joined them 
and walked along the way with them. Perceiving 
their sad faces he inquired as to the cause. Then they 
told him the story of the Christ. The stranger lis- 
tened, and when they had finished, he practically said 

137 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

that it was right that Christ should thus suffer — that 
he might enter into his glory. Then he revealed to 
them by explaining the Scriptures that the Christ 
of whom they had been speaking was the Messiah 
of prophecy. 

Their village was reached. "He made as though 
he would go farther." But they strongly urged him 
to abide with them, because it was late. He accepted, 
their invitation, and then in the breaking of bread 
at the evening meal was made known to them, — it 
was Jesus! And immediately he disappeared. And 
the tired disciples forgot their weariness and at once 
rose up to return to the city, even that very hour. 
And finding the Apostles and others, who were re- 
joicing in the words of happy Peter who had also 
seen him, they tell their own glad story. 

And they were at the time in a closed room; and 
while they were rejoicing Jesus himself appeared 
unto them all without the opening of window or door. 
He quieted their alarm occasioned by his mysterious 
coming and convinced them of his identity by show- 
ing the wounds of his crucifixion and by eating before 
them. And then he explained to the company how that 
in him all prophecies concerning the Messiah had 
been fulfilled. And in their gladness they heard him 
say that they were to be witnesses to the world of 
all these things; but that they must tarry in the 
city until they were "clothed with power from on 
high". 

Thomas was not present. When he heard the story 
he was not satisfied that the disciples had observed 

138 



"RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY. 33 

as carefully as they should 'have done; perhaps they 
had been deceived. But he had his chance to see 
for himself; for, eight days later, when the disciples 
were again together in a closed room Jesus appeared 
similarly as on the former occasion. After a "Peace 
be unto you", spoken to all, he addressed himself 
to Thomas personally, asking 'him to come forward 
and make the investigation without which he had 
said he would not believe. But Thomas immediately 
believed, and called him his "Lord" and his "God". 

Then in Galilee there was a revelation of Jesus on 
the seashore, where standing on the beach in the 
early morning after the disciples had toiled all night 
in fishing but had caught nothing, he directed them 
where to cast their net, — and the result was a mar- 
velous draught of fishes. And then the fishermen 
recognized who it was standing on the shore, and 
impetuous Peter hurried to reach him by jumping 
into the water and wading out. Then they dined 
together; and afterward Peter was confirmed in his 
apostleship. 

Then the Eleven saw him on a mountain in Galilee, 
at which time the Great Commission, to go "into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to the whole crea- 
tion", was probably given. 

His appearing to above five hundred brethren at 
once, and to James, and to all the apostles, is men- 
tioned in First Corinthians. 

Again at Jerusalem, at the end of forty days after 
the broken seal at the tomb, we see a little company 
led out of the city by Jesus. They move down to the 

139 



THE CRIMSON TRAIL. 

Kidron, cross it, pass by the place of his agonizing, 
and ascend the slope of Olivet until the summit is 
reached. Is this the end of the journey? A tradi- 
tion says yes, and here a great church called the 
Church of the Ascension has been built, having an 
open central court in which is seen a stone having 
an impress upon it as of an unshod human foot. 
And here they say He left his last foot-print on 
earth, just before ascending to the skies ! I feel, and 
am sure, that it is all error. 

I read in my Bible that "he led them out until 
they were over against Bethany: and he lifted up his 
hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while 
he blessed them, he parted from them, and was car- 
ried up into heaven, and a cloud received him out 
of their sight". Bethany is a mile farther out from 
Jerusalem than is the Church of the Ascension, 
therefore this summit cannot be the place of his 
departure from earth to return to his Father. I feel 
that it was farther out, somewhere near the little 
town of sacred associations, that he left earth for 
glory. 

The Apostles saw him ascend, and looked longingly 
after him as though they expected at any moment 
to see him return. But the cloud had received him, 
and on billowy, fleecy pinions bore him to the bosom 
of his Father, and he "sat down at the right hand of 
God". And while they stood looking up, two men in 
white apparel suddenly stood by them, saying, "Ye 
men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? 
this Jesus, who was received up from you into 

140 



"RECEIVED UP INTO GLORY: 9 

heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld 
him going into heaven." 

Then the disciples worshipped Jesus, and, return- 
ing to the city, gave themselves up to continuous 
praise in the Temple, waiting for the "promise of 
the Father". 

My story is done. In thought I have tried care- 
fully to follow Him from Bethlehem to Bethany; and 
at times I have almost heard his voice, felt his touch, 
and seen his face. But still I could not see him, ex- 
cept in fancy. But few people of only one genera 
tion ever actually saw him. All others can only know 
him through belief. And I believed when I made a 
tour of his land; and now after dwelling with him 
in the thought of my story I even more firmly believe. 

And, having traveled far enough beyond the cross 
to see flowers springing up in the trail that was 
crimson, I leave Olivet and, like the disciples, go 
into the city with heart filled with indescribable peace 
and joy. And as the sentry stars come out for the 
millionth time since the Incarnation to renew their 
watch by night over the land that is called holy, I 
"wrap the drapery of my couch about me" and lie 
down to dream of Him who said, 

"Blessed are they that have not seen, ana 
yet have believed." 



141 



JUL 26 1912 



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